Late Night Chats
by kya.kumquat
Summary: After the defeat of Hawk Moth, Chat Noir begins to find himself again with Marinette. The more he visits her, the closer they get and Chat questions his feelings for Ladybug. To spend more time with Marinette, both in and out of the suit, Chat offers to be Marinette's wingman. That's definitely not gonna go wrong, right? I own only the story. Cover photo belongs to Edendaphne.
1. A Change

A/N - Thanks for reading my story, I'm kinda just uploading as I go so I can't tell you exactly when the next chapter will be but I'll try to have it out by next week. BTW words in italic are either puns or thoughts.

All characters belong to Thomas Astruc. I'm not making any money from this story.

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Marinette never expected her Friday to end up like this. She had woken up at her usual time - 20 minutes before school started - and had her typical day: hanging out with Alya and Nino, fighting an Akuma and being absolutely in love with Adrien. Yet here she was, standing outside in nothing but her pyjamas at nearly 11 pm, allowing a stray cat into her house. Not a literal cat, but Paris' second favourite superhero, Chat Noir. He had landed not so quietly on her balcony, knocked on her window and dragged her away from her designing. After all, how could she say no to her superhero counterpart that was outside in the cold?

Outside, however, Marinette was starting to wish she had just stayed in her room. The cold night of mid-November was much less appealing than her warm pastry-smelling bedroom. "What are you doing here, Chat?" Marinette grumbled. "I would really rather not be standing outside when I could be warm."

"Sorry purrincess," the black cat grinned sheepishly. "I just came here for a sweet snack and a midnight chat."

Rolling her eyes at his annoying puns, Marinette replied grumpily, "Couldn't you have gone to anyone else's balcony to get snacks? You could have woken me up from my precious beauty sleep."

Chat smirked, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "You really don't need it." A light blush dusted Marinette's cheeks until she shook her head and hit him in the shoulder.

"Oww! You are stronger than you look." Chat rubbed his shoulder in pain. Ok, maybe she put a bit too much power into that.

"You deserve it! You can't just go complimenting me like that," she countered angrily. "And besides, don't change the topic. Why are you on my roof?"

Chat rubbed his chin thoughtfully as if he was in deep thought. "Firstly, I came to your roof because everyone knows your family has the best bakery in all of France." Her cheeks reddened again at this but the superhero took no notice. "Secondly, I saw your light on so I knew you couldn't be asleep. And lastly," he leaned into her face with a toothy grin and winked flirtingly, "There's no one else I wanted to talk to." Marinette's face immediately went red and Chat laughed, clearly the only one amused by the situation.

"Stop it, Chat!" she protested weakly.

"Just teasing princess. I'm very much mistaken," he chuckled and then leaned in once more and said huskily. "You're clearly the sweetest snack your parents have ever made." If Marinette's face was red before, she looked like a tomato now. She groaned loudly and dragged a chuckling Chat down her stairs and into her bedroom.

As Chat Noir took in his new surroundings, it was very clear that Marinette's room had drastically changed since he was last there. It was much less pink for starters, but that was expected. Her walls were now midnight blue, matching her striking hair. Her mat, bed and chaise, once baby pink, were now royal blue and white. Her bed was also royal blue with multiple white pillows but her giant white cat was surprisingly not there. He was amused to see that her photos of Adrien were also missing. That space was now filled with photos of friends and family. His eyes rested on a photo of her parents hugging her after she had won one of many fashion competitions. The joy and love in their eyes filled Chat's heart with that familiar longing to be part of a loving family. His father had grown colder and more distant as the years went on and after Hawkmoth's defeat, Adrien had lost all contact with him. Like a coward, Gabriel had fled the country for fear of the public backlash after being revealed as the cause of Paris' Akuma attacks. One of his father's executive directors took over the company so while he didn't have the same packed schedule, Adrien still had to model pretty often. He still lived in the Agreste Mansion but spent as much time as possible with his friends or as Chat Noir, trying to escape the house that was never home to him. Although he had more freedom now that his father was gone, he still had a hole in his heart that was yet to be filled by a warm family that loved him.

"Chat? Are you ok?" Marinette questioned worriedly.

Chat tore his eyes away and replied distractedly "Yeah I'm fine." He then continued his scan of her room and was ecstatic to see trophies, medals and many certificates from her past competitions. Mannequins and design posters were scattered around walls, showcasing her gifted skills in fashion. He had always known Marinette liked to design but he had never realised just how talented she was at it. All in all, Adrien was extremely proud of Marinette - she had grown into an independent and amazing young woman. "Eww, I sound like her dad," He cringed internally. The cat turned back to the subject of his thoughts and made his way over to her.

"So, what sweet snack were you searching for, Chat? And don't you dare say anything inappropriate or you won't be getting anything except frostbite tonight." Marinette said threateningly.

Chat, clearly horrified, sighed heavily and answered, "Fine. I don't mind, as long as it's sweet." He noticed that Marinette was absorbed in her designing and hadn't heard a word of his reply. Grinning fondly, he decided not to bother her and snuck silently downstairs to forage for his food.

"There we go," Marinette declared, satisfied with her sketch and beginning another one. She hadn't even noticed that Chat was still in her house and had been downstairs for over 10 minutes. She was in the zone. Until she heard a crash loud enough to wake her parents. Thank the stars that they were in Normandy, delivering baked goods for a wedding. "Uhhh...Marinette?" Chat's voice rang out.

"What have you done now, you silly kitty?' she asked exasperated.

"Would you mind a lot of I told you that I...well.. finished all your cookies and croissants?"

Marinette froze mid-sketch. "Ok. Deep breaths. Calm down. He's probably kidding," she tried to reassure herself. It didn't work. At all. She took the deepest breath possible.

"CHAT NOIR, I SWEAR TO GOD, IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN YOU'RE GONNA WISH YOU KEPT YOUR SORRY ASS INSIDE YOUR HOUSE TONIGHT! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO MAKE THOSE? THAT WAS NEARLY 50 OF EACH! HOW CAN YOU EVEN STOMACH THAT MUCH CARBS AND SUGAR!"

Downstairs, as Marinette continued to scream blue murder, the alley-cat in question visibly shuddered and immensely regretted his feeding frenzy. "Ok Chat. You can do this. Besides, you've faced tons of evil Akumas. How scary can one 17 year old be?"

When he arrived upstairs, though, Chat realised how mistaken he was. Marinette's bluebell eyes that once held love and compassion now held a fire that could burn someone to a pile of ash. She looked homicidal, murderous, bloodthirsty and every other synonym for 'prepared to stab a bitch'. And today, Chat was that bitch.

"Uhh…" Chat mumbled nervously. "Sorry, princess."

Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to stop herself from kicking Chat where it really hurts. "I just don't understand how. Why haven't you got a tummy ache? How can you eat that much food and still be so….." she gestures wildly with her hands.

Chat, taking advantage of her lack of wording said impishly, "So devilishly handsome?" At Marinette's death glare, he chuckled nervously. "I really am sorry, Marinette." At this, Marinette looked worriedly at her partner; it was the first time all night that he had called her by her name. She thought back to when he was looking at the photos above her computer. Maybe he was upset about something. "I don't have many chances to indulge in sweet snacks lately. I guess I got carried away. Just like I do with Ladybug." Marinette barely heard the last part but her heart ached terribly for her friend. She knew from their conversations when she was Ladybug that he had a very stressful life. After the defeat of Hawk Moth, however, Chat was more distant during patrols and when they were battling Akumas. She guessed that he was a fan of Gabriel and was taking his defeat very badly. The one time he had been his usual flirty self, she snapped at him and rejected his feelings once again. He had left the battle without even bumping fists and she immensely regretted her actions. As much as she despised hurting him like that, she couldn't return his feelings.

Pushing her thoughts aside, she turned to the despondent cat and grabbed his shoulders. "Hey," she spoke so fiercely that Chat looked up. "Don't worry about it. If you ever need anything, including snacks, you know you can come to see me, right? You mean a lot to me, Chat." He blinked once and smiled, his white teeth gleaming.

"Thank you, Mari. I really needed to hear that."

"No...problem." It was then that Marinette realised just how close she was standing next to Chat. Though she was sure she would never feel that way about Chat, she had to admit that he had filled out quite nicely. He had defined jaw muscles and stunning green eyes. Chat had also grown quite a lot and was nearly a whole head taller than her. His hair was still blonde and spiky but he had grown it out so it touched the middle of his jawline. His body, once lean and skinny, was now quite muscular. Her eyes slowly drifted downwards. She could clearly make out his biceps and pecs in his skintight suit. She could even make out his 6-pack, down to his-

"Earth to Marinette?" Her eyes snapped up at the sound of his voice. "Are you checking meowt, princess?" Chat mischievously asked and began flexing his muscles. Blushing furiously, Marinette sat in her chair and continued her sketching. "Whatcha drawing?" Chat asked.

"Didn't curiosity kill the cat?"

"Yes, but satisfaction brought it back."

"You know what, Chat?" Marinette closed her sketchbook and stood up. "I don't think my parents will be very happy if they come back and find all the snacks gone. Why don't you come and help me bake some as punishment for your crimes?" Chat's eyes lit up at this and they went downstairs to begin the task of baking 50 cookies and croissants.

For the rest of the night, they chatted amicably about anything and everything and Chat began to realise just how amazing Marinette was. She was so smart and kind and downright terrifying - he had feared for his life when she caught him trying to lick the batter. A couple of times, he tried to tell himself that he was still in love with Ladybug but as time went on, he realised that his love for Ladybug had been blinding him from seeing how much he liked Marinette. As Adrien, she was more comfortable with talking to him and wasn't as nervous as when he had first met her but she still didn't show her full character. Adrien has always thought she was cute but now, he saw her beautiful. Deep down, Chat knew he would always have a special place for Ladybug. He just couldn't stand the rejection anymore. He had dated Kagami briefly but they both agreed that they were much better as friends. Maybe things would be different with Marinette.

After an hour, they had finally finished. Both were glad that it was a Saturday, or they might not have made it through school. Marinette walked Chat Noir to her balcony and murmured tiredly, "I guess this is goodbye, kitty." Chat yawned like his namesake and nodded in agreement. He held Marinette's hands and there was a noticeable blush on both their cheekbones.

"Thank you, princess. For everything. You have no idea how much I needed it."

"N-no problem, kitty. As I said, you can come by anytime. By the way, you might want to land a bit quieter. Next time, my parents might not be away."

Chat smirked and stepped into her personal bubble. Marinette nervously looked up into his emerald eyes. He enveloped her in a hug and after a moment she returned it, wrapping her arms around his back. Chat then pressed a kiss to her forehead, which made Marinette's blush intensify by a thousand. Before she could comment, he stepped away, wished her a good night and jumped out into the darkness, leaving Marinette standing alone, dumbstruck, on her balcony. As she went inside and flopped on her bed, she knew that things between them had definitely changed. But, right before she fell asleep, a small smile appeared on her face and she knew it was a good change.


	2. A Hoodie

Thanks again for reading my story. This week is my birthday so I can't guarantee a chapter next Wednesday but I'll try my best! I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope you like it!

I own nothing but the story. All Miraculous characters belong to Thomas Astruc.

p.s. All italics are for puns or thoughts.

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For the rest of the weekend, Marinette was a complete mess, much to Tikki's amusement. The goddess of creation had seen many Ladybugs and with each one, love problems with Chat Noir. She did know Chat's identity but wanted her miraculous holder to find out for herself. "Almost every Ladybug has had to go through this, Marinette. I'm sure everything will work out fine!" Tikki reassured the flustered teen. "And besides, weren't you prepared to give up on Adrien a few days ago?"

"That was a betrayal, Tikki! I practically cheated on him!"

Meanwhile, Chat Noir was having the exact same problem as Marinette was, except Plagg was much less sympathetic. "Plagg, I'm a horrible person! I don't deserve to love my lady, " Adrien groaned. Plagg, completely fed up with the how dense the boy could be, took no notice of his distress.

"This is why I stick to cheese. Girls are too difficult."

"PLAGG! YOU ARE NOT HELPING!"

Monday came and Marinette woke up late, as usual. Tikki watched fondly as Marinette rushed about her bedroom. When the teen was finally ready, Tikki flew into her small purse and she bounded down the stairs, 2 at a time. It was a surprise that she didn't fall like she usually did. Bidding her parents goodbye, Marinette ran to school, determined not to be late for the thousandth time. As she arrived at school, however, she slipped on nothing in particular and fell on the floor. The floor was surprisingly warm and muscular and smelled like mint and cedarwood. Oh, wait. She knew that scent. Red-faced, she turned around to find Adrien's amused face looking up at her. "Woah, there Mari. A fall like that could do some real damage," he teased.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry I'm such a klutz I've probably broken all your bones and you'll never be able to do any modelling and you'll become homeless and your beautiful face will be all sunken and withered I'VE RUINED YOUR LIFEEEE!" Marinette rambled. Adrien blinked twice and roared out laughing. Marinette, more embarrassed and red than she'd ever been, held her face in her hands.

"Oh, Marinette. My beautiful face will survive." Adrien chuckled. "If you wanted to get on top of me, all you had to do was ask." Marinette looked up, bluebell eyes wide as saucers, and began to giggle at the laughing boy.

"Ewww Adrien, you perv! I had no idea how dirty-minded you were."

"Come on, let's get off the floor before we get really dirty, " Adrien joked. He pulled Marinette up with him as he stood up and was so close that he could smell her coconut shampoo. "Uhhh…" they both blushed and the fact that they were still holding hands was not lost on either side. "W-we should probably g-go inside, " Adrien stuttered._ "Where did that come from?"_ he asked himself.

"Y-yeah," Marinette replied nervously. She realised how cold she was - in her frenzy to not be late, she had forgotten her coat. Adrien noticed her shivering and, like the perfect gentleman, took off his hoodie and pulled it over her head. Marinette, surprised by the action, protested "Adrien, I'm fine, really!"

"I insist. You can give it back tomorrow, or keep it. I-if you really want to."

Internally, Marinette squealed at the thought of wearing Adrien's hoodie for the rest of her life. _"OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!"_ She was brought out of her thoughts by the feeling of Adrien's hand on her lower back, guiding her to their classroom. Many heads turned at the sight, but most people we're excited that their OTP was finally starting to happen. Marinette was in heaven. She could die right now and be satisfied, no joke. Adrien, on the other hand, felt like he was doing the most natural thing he had ever done. With Kagami, everything felt forced and uncomfortable. Being here with Marinette felt so easy. He looked down at Marinette and grinned. She returned the smile and stepped closer to him.

_"This is nice."_

They arrived at their classroom, still looking into each other's eyes as if they were in their own little bubble. _"I could stay like this forever, " _Marinette thought peacefully.

"DUPAIN-CHENG! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY ADRIKINS?"

Ah well. Ladybug only had so much luck. Marinette turned to Chloe, pissed off that her moment with Adrien had come to an end. "Adrien, did she put some kind of spell on you? Come here and I'll deal with her for you, " Chloe said snottily and flipped her hair. Marinette was about to retort but Adrien beat her to it.

"Marinette didn't do anything wrong, Chloe. You need to stop giving her a hard time about things she has no control over. I gave her my hoodie because she forgot her coat and I walked with her...b-because…" at this, Adrien noticed that the entire class was listening in on their argument and his face turned rosy. He had to finish strong or Chloe would just continue to pester the poor bluenette. "Because I wanted to."

There was a loud gasp from three people. Chloe, Alya and Mlle Bustier. What? She was a grown woman and had been watching these two dance around each other for years. Finally, some excitement in her dull life. Oh wait, she had to start the lesson. "That's enough, Adrien. Please take your seat. You too, Marinette."

As the two students sat down, their respective best friends grabbed their arms. "Girl, what was that?!" Alya whispered excitedly.

"I don't know, but I know that I want it to happen again!" Marinette squealed quietly.

Meanwhile, in front of the girls, Nino was questioning Adrien.

"Dude, what was that? Since when do you walk Marinette to class and give her your hoodie? Your hoodie that has your name on it?"

_"Shit."_

"I don't know, it just felt natural. It's not that big of a deal, right?"

"NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL?" Nino whisper-shouted not-so-quietly. _"This dude really is dense,"_ Nino said to himself. How could he not realise after 3 years that Marinette had a super gigantic crush on him? It's not like he could tell Adrien anyway. Alya had threatened him more than enough times. Both Alya and Nino thought at the same time, _"I'll investigate more after class."_

As the lesson came to an end, Alya dragged Marinette, who smiled back at Adrien anxiously, to the locker room. When they arrived, Alya sat them down and threatened, "Spill the beans, Mari, or you're going to regret it." Marinette gulped and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well, I was running to school and slipped on something, which made me crash into Adrien. He helped me get up and gave me his hoodie because I forgot my coat. Then he walked me to class and...well you know the rest of it."

Alya stared incredulously at her BFF. "You mean to say, you fell on top of Adrien and I wasn't there to witness it?"

"You were probably too busy swapping spit with Nino!"

Alya went red at this but continued her interrogation. "You do realise that the hoodie you're wearing has Adrien's name on it right?"

Marinette froze, jumped two feet in the air and screamed "WHAT?"

Alya snickered and continued, "Is there anything else I need to know about?"

"Well, he did make a dirty joke about me getting on top of him."

Alya stared, stunned. Then she got up and began to pace in front of her friend. "Wait, wait, wait. Adrien, the purest, most innocent bean out of all of us, made a dirty joke?! Marinette! This could be more serious than I thought! What else?"

"Ummm...he said I could…keep the hoodie if I wanted."

Alya stopped pacing directly in front of Marinette. She turned slowly and fell to the ground. Shocked out of her skin, Marinette knelt by her side and shouted worriedly, "Alya? Are you ok?" Alya looked up and announced, "Marinette, you officially have a 54% chance that Adrien likes you back."

Marinette squealed loudly and pulled Alya up. "Did you really have to 'faint' for that?" Alya took no notice of her comment, looped arms with her friend and together, they strolled out of the locker-room, chatting about how Adrien might just feel the same way about Marinette.

The day passed with no more excitement until it was time to go home. "Are you sure I can keep your hoodie, Adrien? I don't want to be a bother," Marinette asked timidly, internally hoping he said yes.

"Yes, I'm sure. I have loads of hoodies and I...well…I w-want you to have it." At this, Marinette turned very pink and heard someone fangirling nearby, no doubt it was Alya. Or maybe Mlle Bustier.

"Th-thank you Adrien."

"No p-problem."

Once again, they were lost in each other's eyes, not noticing anything that was going on. They could have stayed like that forever if they had their way. But alas, it was not meant to be. A pigeon flew by, startling Marinette and causing Adrien to have a sneezing fit. "Gesundheit," Marinette giggled and passed him a tissue.

"Thank you, Mari," he said wearily. He waved as he walked to his black Mercedes-Benz. "See you tomorrow Marinette. Try not to fall on anyone else!" he teased and drove off with barely a sound. Marinette blushed and smiled to herself.

When Adrien arrived at the mansion, he decided that he should investigate his feelings for Marinette. Much to Plagg's dismay, he meant as Chat Noir. At least he was getting double the camembert.

Later that evening, Marinette was out on her balcony, looking at the beautiful Paris skyline. Whether or not she was waiting for a certain black cat was debatable. Her wishes came true, however, when Chat Noir bounded across the rooftops and stopped on her balcony. "Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. Himself, " Marinette joked.

"_Meowch_ Princess. You wound me" He held his heart and staggered backwards.

They bantered back and forth for a while until Chat remembered the reason he had come to see his Princess. "So, did anything interesting happen at school today, Mari?" She blushed and turned away. "Ooh, that looks like a yes to me."

"Yeah...ok you have to promise to never tell anyone what you're about to hear."

Chat put his hand to his heart and said "Cat's honour."

"The boy I've loved for 3 years gave me his hoodie today."

Chat froze. His mind caught up with what his ears we're screaming at him and...wait, how do you breathe again? He began to choke and Marinette looked at him fearfully. "Chat, are you ok?" She got up and tapped his back.

_"In and out Agreste. You can do this."_ "Yep, I'm fine, princess. Could you tell me the name of this boy?"

"Don't tell anyone Chat. It's...Adrien Agreste."

_"Holy shit…"_ "Isn't he that model boy? The rich, stuck-up one? What's so special about him?" Chat asked, anxious to hear Marinette's reply.

"How can you say that? He's so much more than just a pretty face. He's kind, compassionate, and such a gentleman. He's always polite to everyone, even when he's upset. I know he's been having a really rough time ever since...well he hasn't been himself lately. But even then he makes an effort to be positive and a nice person to be around. And, oh my God, he's handsome. His eyes are like emeralds and his hair is so soft and fluffy. He obviously has to work out for his modelling but still. The only person I know our age that is as ripped as he is...is you Chat. Chat? Hello? Are you choking again?"

Chat was rigid. He could not move. He started at Marinette with his mouth wide open._ "Well-fucking-done Agreste. This stunning girl has been in love with you for 3 years and you didn't even notice. What a dumbass."_ "W-well princess, this b-boy clearly doesn't know what h-he's missing." An idea struck him. A wide smirk appeared on Chat's face and he slowly proposed, "Why don't I help you get together with this boy of your dreams?"


	3. A Plan

Thanks again for reading my story. All the reviews have been really sweet and I appreciate them so much! You can find image boards for each chapter on my Wattpad account called miraculous_mxngo and my Instagram of the same name. I hope you like this chapter!

I own nothing but the story. All Miraculous characters belong to Thomas Astruc.

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Marinette woke up early on Friday morning feeling excited. She and Chat had talked for a long time on Monday night about how to woo Adrien. She had a plan of action and was prepared to crush it. Chat had been very vague in what to do because he wanted her to surprise him when he came that night. He had given her 3 instructions: change up her outfit but include his hoodie; initiate more physical contact and make more jokes. She decided to wear a black patterned halter top that slightly showed her bellybutton with dark blue jeans and her usual black flats. She decided not to wear make-up because that would be trying too hard. She did change her hair though. It had grown out and reached the middle of her back. It was usually tied in red ribbons but today, she opted to leave it down and tie up a little of it with green ribbon. In honour of Chat, she wore a necklace she had designed a few months ago. For the finishing touch, she tied Adrien's hoodie loosely around her waist, but not before inhaling its sweet scent. She had time to spare but wanted to meet with Alya before class started. She hugged her parents, who definitely noticed her change of dressing, and began walking to school.

Adrien had arrived at school a bit earlier than usual, anticipating what Marinette would wear. He hadn't expected to be so lucky - the girl that he had been crushing on had been in love with him for years? When he transformed back last night, he vowed to tell Ladybug that he would no longer pester her with his feelings because he had found someone else. They would always be partners but he just wasn't the right person for Ladybug.

When Marinette walked into the classroom, he felt his heart stop. He wasn't being melodramatic. She looked gorgeous. Her hair was like the sea, wavy and dark. He would gladly drown in it if he could. Her necklace and hair ribbon screamed Chat Noir. Her halter top rode up when she lifted her arms and the sight of her midriff was making him think things that were definitely not safe for school. Adrien felt his face heating up the more he looked at her. He really needed to look away before it got creepy. "Hey, Adrien, " Marinette said, a new confidence in her voice. Adrien found it intriguing and quite sexy. _"Woah, Agreste. She literally said two words to you. Get a hold of yourself."_

Mlle Bustier began the lesson but Adrien couldn't focus at all. His thoughts always seemed to go back to Marinette's outfit and how stunning she looked. He wished he was behind her so he could look at her without having to turn his neck every time and make it so obvious. Nino was the opposite of oblivious. He kept on nudging Adrien in the side and wiggling his eyebrows, which didn't make him feel any better. "Dude, did you see what Marinette was wearing? She looked so hot, right?!"

"Yeah, whatever Nino." _"When is this class gonna end.."_

Eventually, lunch arrived and Marinette was immediately tackled by Alya. "Girl, I don't know what happened to you but I like it. You're finally wearing the clothes we bought together, saying hi to Adrien like it's nothing, and don't think I forgot about that necklace and ribbon you're wearing! Who are you?" the blogger yelled excitedly.

Marinette blushed a little and replied quietly, "It's nothing really Alya. I just wanted to change up my style a bit. No big deal."

"NO BIG DEAL? DID YOU SEE THE WAY ADRIEN WAS LOOKING AT YOU? WORK IT, GIRL! YOU LOOK AMAZING!" she whisper-screamed very loudly. Everyone in the locker-room looked in their direction and Marinette uncomfortably covered her face.

"Come on, Alya, let's go eat," she mumbled as she dragged her friend out. On the other side of the door, Nino and Adrien were waiting for the girls. Just when Marinette thought she was done talking about her outfit, Nino brought it up again.

"So dudette, new style, huh?" Nino asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I was just saying to her that it was amazing." Alya inserted. She then rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Why did you decide to change your style, Mari? And why did you include Chat Noir?"

Both Marinette and Adrien blushed. "Well...a close friend suggested it and recently, I've been inspired by Chat Noir so...yeah," Marinette answered shyly. "It's not even that good."

"It is!" Adrien said rather loudly. Everyone looked at him and he turned even redder. "Umm...what I meant to say is ...I think you look really pretty, Marinette."

Alya and Nino gawked, Mlle Bustier squealed and Marinette activated tomato mode. Literally. She matched Nathaniel's hair. "Uhh..thanks A-Adrien. You l-look really pretty too. I MEAN you look beautiful NO I MEAN REALLY YOU HANDSOME LOOK NOOO I MEAN-"

Alya has been cackling like a witch throughout her friends ramble but decided to be merciful and save her. She grabbed a bright red Marinette's arm and ran out of the room. "Oh my god, Alya! I can never look at him again!" Adrien was still standing, nearly as red as Marinette, while Nino died of laughter behind him.

_"Is it weird that I found that really adorable?"_ he asked himself. _"I guess my crush is more intense than I thought."_

The rest of the day passed on without any drama, much to Marinette's delight. She was ready to flop on her bed and do nothing until Chat arrived. But luck seemed to be really not on her side. As she was walking home, a hand tapped her shoulder. _"Isn't Ladybug supposed to be really lucky or some shit?"_

"Hey, Marinette." Adrien's voice reached her ears and she turned around cautiously.

"Hey, Adrien. Sorry about lunchtime today. I guess my mind gave up on me!"

Adrien chuckled lightly. "It's cool, Mari. I just wanted to say…" he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I think you should wear outfits like this more often. Including m-my hoodie."

Both teens were blushing madly at this but Marinette smiled and replied, "Thanks, Adrien. I guess I've _cotton_ attached to it?" Adrien's eyes widened at the pun and he burst out laughing. Marinette soon joined in. Almost a minute later, Marinette took a deep breath. _"Come on, Marinette, you can do this. Just give him a hug when he stops laughing but before he says bye."_

"Ok, Mari. See you tomo-"

"WAIT." _"That was louder than expected."_ "Umm...I just wanted to…" She stepped in before she lost her nerve and wrapped her arms around his torso. Adrien was shocked before he remembered the advice Chat Noir gave her, and then he wrapped one arm around her head and the other around her lower back. His hand skimmed her soft creamy skin. Marinette, standing very stiff, relaxed into the hug after a few moments and the two remained like that for a few moments. The same thought was running through their heads.

_"I could stay like this forever."_

They eventually broke apart and said goodbye, both with stupid grins on their faces. Marinette arrived home and flopped on her bed. Her kwami looked on fondly and felt lucky to see each and every Ladybug fall in love with their partner again and again. Adrien arrived home and punched the air with a joyous shout. His kwami watched him fondly too and was happy that his favourite miraculous holder had finally found his happiness.

Hours passed by and, like clockwork, Chat Noir arrived at Marinette's balcony at 11 pm. "Bonsoir, Chat Noir, " she greeted happily. Chat's bright eyes roved over her figure, taking in her choice of clothes for the second time.

_"That belly button is really cute,"_ he thought absently. "Why, princess, you look, " a hungry gleam flashed in his eyes, "_Paw_sitively ravishing."

Marinette blushed prettily and mumbled, "Thanks kitty. Let's go inside."

They first snuck downstairs to get some snacks, much to Chat's delight. In his excitement, however, he forgot to be quiet.

"Shh, Chat! My parents are asleep!"

"It's not my fault. I'm _feline_ very hungry tonight."

"Chat Noir, be serious! What do you think my parents will say if they see me sneaking a masked boy out of my bedroom in the middle of the night?"

"Calm down, _purr_incess. I'm just _kitten_."

"Shush!"

They managed to get past her parents' room and back to her's, bearing lots of cookies, milk and, of course, croissants. Marinette was convinced that her parents hadn't heard them but inside their bedroom, Tom and Sabine smiled knowingly at each other. They trusted their daughter enough to know that she wouldn't allow someone to pressure her into something she doesn't want to do. She was in control. But just in case, Sabine made a mental note to remind her of how her actions always have consequences. And to buy some condoms.

Chat flopped on Marinette's chaise and began to dig into his snacks. Marinette watched with amusement and allowed him to finish. She was determined to help him as much as she could in her civilian form. She didn't know what he was going through but wanted to be there for him. He licked his lips and Marinette found herself staring. _"Have __his lips always looked so soft ?"_ She began to blush at her thought and stopped it before it went too far.

Chat finished logging out and lay back. "So, princess, how did plan Loverboy go? I already see that your outfit choice was gorgeous." Marinette blushed and hit his arm, this time with a little less power.

"Stop it, Chat! You know how I feel about compliments." she protested indignantly. "If you wanna know the deets, you'll keep your mouth shut."

"Sorry, Mari, I can't promise you that. If my princess looks as ravishing as you do now, I can do nothing but appreciate you."

"Ugh, you are such a flirt."

"Only for you, princess." He winked flirtatiously and sat up. "So. Plan Loverboy?" Marinette remembered the events of the day and beamed happily.

"It was amazing! He said I looked really pretty and I…" her face fell at the memory and she groaned into her hands. "I said he was pretty as well! Then I called him beautiful and mixed my words up…oh my god, Chat it was so embarrassing!" Marinette looked up at him and saw he was this close to laughing. "Even you're laughing! I'm such a joke," she said dejectedly, turning around to face the door.

Chat's face fell at her movement and stood up to console her. "I'm sorry, princess. I didn't mean to make fun of you. It just reminded me of something," he rubbed her back comfortingly. "And I promise you," he turned her around and held her face in his gloved hands. "You are not a joke." Marinette stared into his bright eyes and saw only sincerity. She closed her eyes leaned into his palm.

"Thanks, Chat." She stood up and sat on the chaise, pulling Chat with her. Her heart thumping in her chest, she leaned her head on his shoulder. _"Mmm, he's so warm and soft. Smells like mint and cedarwood. Why is that familiar?"_ Chat's arms wrapped around her waist and rested there comfortably.

_"She's so small, like a little cupcake. Why did I wait so long to notice how great she is?"_ "So, is there anything else I need to know?"

Marinette blushed again and Chat felt a small desire to keep that blush on her face. "Well, I did initiate contact. I…hugged him."

"Wow, that's great!" Chat exclaimed, trying or pretend he didn't know what she was talking about. "How did it feel?"

"Awesome! He was soo warm and cuddly. I could've died that moment and I would not care. And when he said he wanted to see more outfits with his hoodie?" She sighed contentedly. "I wish we were dating already. He is the perfect boyfriend."

_"Aww, how cute."_ Chat thought with a small smile on his face. "Well, princess, our next plan of action is to continue to shake loverboy with amazing outfits and hugs. I'll try to swing by next week so we can recap, kay princess? Princess?" He looked down to find Marinette lightly dozing on his shoulder. _"So cute."_ He lifted her up bridal style and carried her up to her bed. Placing her down gently and pulling the cover over her, Chat turned to leave but felt a hand grabbing his wrist. Startled, he looked down to find a sleepy but awake Marinette looking up at him.

"Let me walk you out," she mumbled.

"But you're all tucked up! I don't want to disturb my princess," he chuckled.

"No! I'm seeing you out!" she said stubbornly. Chat grinned and pulled her up.

"If you say so, Mari." She stood up and stretched, her top riding up so Chat could see the tips of her pink bra. _"Just a little bit higher,"_ he subconsciously thought. His face turned red as he realised what he mentally said. _"Keep it together, Agreste. Marinette isn't yours. For now." _The two walked out onto her balcony and Chat turned to say goodbye. Before he could utter a word, Marinette wrapped her arms around his torso.

"Thank you so much, Chat. I never could've done what I did today without you." Chat hugged her tightly and rubbed small circles into her back where her skin was exposed. He even lifted her off the ground and spun around, causing the teen to giggle in surprise. Placing her on her feet, Chat held Marinette's hand and bent low to kiss it. He kept his eyes on her the whole time and both were blushing lightly.

"Good night, Princess."

"Good night, kitty."

* * *

**A/N **

Ichanged the timeline of the story so the first chapter is now set in mid-November.


	4. An Akuma

Thanks again for reading my story! I took some liberties with this chapter because the actual Akuma fight isn't very relevant to the story. If you find any non-canonical facts, please say so in reviews so I can change them! You can find the image boards for this chapter at my Instagram/Wattpad called miraculous_mxngo. I hope you like this chapter!

I'm not making any money from this story and all characters belong to Thomas Astruc.

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For two weeks, Marinette was in heaven. Every day was better than the next and she never wanted it to end. She had been wearing trendy outfits that Adrien always complimented, especially when she wore his hoodie, which was almost every day. Before they parted ways at the end of school, they always shared a hug that left both teens blushing and with wide grins on their faces. The icing on the cake was that Chat visited her nearly every night, which brought cuddles, cookies and combinations of kisses (on the head of course) and hugs. Marinette sometimes felt slightly guilty that she was seeing two boys at the same time. But Tikki had reasoned that technically, she wasn't dating either of them so she wasn't doing anything wrong. This is what Marinette told herself when her heart fluttered and her cheeks turned red the exact same way every time she was sitting close to either Chat or Adrien. There was nothing wrong with liking two boys, right? And besides, she didn't even like Chat that way. Definitely not. It was impossible. She was most certainly not thinking about him. _" Mhm. Keep telling yourself that, babe_._"_

Currently, it was Friday and Marinette woke up, eager at the prospect of another day with Adrien and Chat. She had a quick shower and brushed her teeth. Since it was the end of the month, she decided to go out with a bang. Their class normally had a small celebration at the end of each month so everyone would be in slightly nicer clothes anyway. After consulting with Tikki, who unsurprisingly had a large amount of fashion knowledge, Marinette decided to wear a black, grey and white plaid skirt and a cream jumper with black opaque tights and black ankle boots. She also wore her hair a bit fancier - she did a messy top bun and put a chrysanthemum pin into it. _"Ooh, girl, you look fine."_ She laughed to herself while checking in the mirror. To top the look, she wore a charm bracelet that was her own design. It had ladybug, black cat and yellow rose charms. Tikki flew over to her holder and squealed in delight. "Marinette, you look incredible! I'm sure Adrien will love it!"

Marinette beamed, "Thanks Tikki!" She grabbed her purse and opened it for the little bug to fly into. She ran down the stairs and grabbed an apple. "Good morning, Mama!" she greeted her mother.

"Good morning, Marinette," she replied. The older bluenette noticed the change in her daughter's clothing and smiled knowingly. "I see you've decided to leave November with a bang. Perhaps a certain blonde model will notice…" she teased.

Marinette blushed and covered her face. "You're not allowed to talk about my personal life, Mama!" She removed her hands and asked her mother cautiously, "Do you think I look nice, though?"

"You look, gorgeous sweetie. Have a great day at school! Go get that blonde piece of meat!"

"Mama!"

Marinette grabbed her tray of macarons that she and baked yesterday and started walking to school. The sky was clear and she could see an aeroplane's white trail. _"France is so beautiful,"_ she thought absently. There was a light breeze and she noticed that it wasn't as cold as if normally was. The hustle and bustle of an ever-moving city was music to Marinette's ears and she closed her eyes breathed in deeply.

"MARINETTE!" She sighed and wearily opened her eyes to see Alya running towards her with an enormous grin on her face and a white bag in her hand.

"Hi, Alya. Why are you screaming now?"

"Why am I screaming? WHY AM I SCREAMING?"

"Shush!"

"You are in the most stunning outfit yet! I love it and hate it at the same time because you look better than me!"

"No, I don't! You look beautiful! Alya was wearing a white knotted crop top that showed off her slender tummy and belly-button piercing that she had gotten after her 18th birthday. She was also wearing blue ripped jeans, which accentuated her wide hips and large behind, and black Nikes. Marinette had always been slightly envious of her best friends god-given curves. Her multiple ear piercings were adorned with hoops and studs. Her makeup was bolder than Marinette's - she had chosen to do a smokey-eye, dark red lipstick and finished off the look with liquid liner. "Nino won't be able to resist you!"

Alya blushed and winked. "That's the plan, girl." She linked arms with the bluenette and continued the walk to school. Lots of people complimented the duo as they made their way to class. They were known for being the most sought after girls in the whole school. Everyone either had a crush on them, wished they looked like them or hated them for being so gorgeous. The last one was Chloe, of course. Who else could hate such glorious women?

The two girls reached their destination and placed their snacks on the front table. Alya had brought New Orleans beignets that her mother had helped her make. There was a selection of sweet and savoury snacks for their mini-party at the end of the day. Marinette and Alya turned to see Adrien and Nino standing behind them. Nino was in a white checkered shirt with jeans and Adrien wore a dark blue shirt with dark blue jeans. _"Holy shit…"_ Marinette stared at Adrien with an intense blush on her cheeks. _"How is it possible for someone to look that handsome? He must be a god. That's the only possible explanation. Ahhh, I want to stroke his face. It looks soooo smoooooth ..." _She slowly reached out her hand with a mystified look on her face.

"Marinette?" Adrien asked, confused. Suddenly, Marinette realised she what she was doing and snatched her hand back.

"Sorry!" She blushed profusely. "I don't know what I was doing."

Adrien laughed and replied, "That's ok. I didn't really min-"

A scream sounded from outside and a loud sinister laugh came after it.

"It must be an Akuma!" Marinette and Adrien exclaimed at the same time. Alya and Nino looked at them confused but didn't comment. "You three go hide in the locker room. Make sure you don't leave until the Akuma has been defeated," Marinette commanded.

"But what about you?" Adrien asked worriedly. _"I can't allow her to get hurt."_

"I'll be fine, I'm going to make sure everyone hides safely," she reassured. After hugging them, Marinette ran out and behind the school. "Tikki spots on!" A pink light enveloped her body and she ran in the direction of the Akuma.

Meanwhile, Adrien had separated himself from Alya and Nino, telling them he was going to hide in another locker. He ran to a deserted classroom and jumped out the window into a hidden road. "Plagg claws out!" A green light surrounded him and he vaulted out of the street and in search of Ladybug. He found her standing on a roof, staring at the victim so he landed beside her. "Long time no see, Ladybug," Chat murmured.

"Hey, kitty. These leftover Akumas are getting fewer and fewer so hopefully, they'll all be gone soon. This is a harder Akuma, though, so I'm gonna need you to…." she looked at her partner mesmerised. _"How is it humanly possible for someone to look that good? His face looks so clear and smooth, like a wax statue at the museum. Ugh, that was one of my worst moments."_

"Uhhh, Ladybug?" Chat asked, confused.

"Focused!" she blurted with a blush on her cheeks. "I need you to stay focused. Just look."

"Okay?" he replied warily._ "Was she eyeing me?"_ A month ago, Chat would have been over the moon but now, he only thought of Marinette. He sighed sadly, _"I'm gonna have to let her down after the battle. Hopefully, she won't take it too badly."_ He was pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of the Akuma's wicked laugh.

"Good morning, people of Paris! I am Mademoiselle Know-It-All and it's time for you, dear citizens, to know everything." she declared. "My parents didn't think it fit to tell me that I had failed my entrance exam but I believe the truth deserves to be out, whether we want it or not. Prepare to be freed!"

She leapt up from the building she was on and pointed her pencil at a random couple in a nearby cafe. The woman began immediately blurted out, "I have a knife-play fetish and love to be dominated." Her face turned red and she tried to hold her hand to her mouth but the words still found their way out. "I've written fanfics about our parents having an orgy." The more truths she told, the worse they got. Eventually, she couldn't take the embarrassment and ran away, leaving her partner staring dumbfounded. Mlle Know-It-All jumped away, cackling at the scene.

"So, Bug, what's the plan? And why is this Akuma harder than others?" Chat inquired curiously.

"Well, Chaton, if we get hit by her pencil, we'll eventually tell the whole of Paris our identities," she explained. "And while I'm not against sharing it with some people, I'd rather not do it now."

Chat nodded in understanding. "We just need to be a lot more careful?"

"Exactly my point. No jumping in to save me, kitty," she reminded him playfully.

"Then don't throw yourself into danger," he retorted.

She giggled and flicked his bell. "We'll be fine, mon chaton."

"We are unstoppable after all," Chat smirked and bumped shoulders with the spotted heroine. She rolled her eyes but smiled and bumped back.

"Ok let's go."

After 20 minutes of fighting, however, they had made no progress. The akumatized victim would point her pen at them, causing them to dodge, but she never actually spell them. She would only hit the citizens. Nowadays, without Hawkmoth guiding them, Akumas just had some fun with their new powers. It could be annoying though, as Marinette and Adrien we're losing time to do things they loved. Ladybug signalled to Chat to follow her and she dropped into an alleyway. "We can't keep going like this, Chat," she panted.

"Maybe it's time to bring out the ol' lucky charm?" Chat suggested. Ever since the defeat of Hawk Moth, the akumas had been so easy that Ladybug didn't need her superpower.

"I guess you're right," she agreed and took a deep breath, throwing her yo-yo into the air. "LUCKY CHARM!" A piece of paper fell into her hands. "An acceptance letter? That seems pretty personal."

"It's probably the fastest way to get rid of this Akuma." _"I wanna go back to watching Mari's beautiful body in that jumper and skirt. If only she was wearing my hoodie,"_ he thought longingly. The sound of the Akuma laughing again brought him out of his thoughts and he looked back at Ladybug. "Are you ready, Bug?" She nodded and threw her yo-yo out, latching onto a chimney. Chat followed soon after and worked to keep the victim distracted. "Hey, big-brain. Betcha can't tell me who invented the lightbulb," he goaded her.

She stomped her foot in anger and pointed her pencil at the feline superhero. "How dare you! I know more about physics than you ever will, alley-cat," Chat easily jumped out of the way and watched as Ladybug crept up behind her and wrapped her yo-yo around her legs. Tightening it, Mlle Know-It-All fell on her back and groaned in protest. "Let me go, you silly insect!" Ladybug then held the letter in front of the Akuma's eyes and watched them light up with hope. "I ...actually passed?" she breathed in disbelief and dropped her pencil in shock. Marinette internally squirmed. It really wasn't fair to falsely give the poor girl hope but she guessed that was what needed to be done. She stomped on the pencil before she could stop herself and saw the black butterfly escape.

"No more evil-doing for you, little Akuma," she said as she captured and purified it. "Bye-bye little butterfly!" She threw her paper into the air and shouted, "Miraculous Ladybug!" The victim's costume bled away, leaving a teenage girl sitting on the floor.

"Wait, where am I?" she asked bewildered. Her confused look turned to one of horror. "I was akumatized, wasn't I! I'm so sorry, I should've had better control of my emotions." She hung her head in shame.

Ladybug felt pity for the dejected girl and put her hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault," she looked at her necklace, "Dominique. It happens to everyone - you just got unlucky," she reassured. "Perhaps you should try to sort things out with your parents?"

The girl nodded wearily and stood up as Ladybug's earrings began to beep. Chat bounded over and offered, "I'll take her to her house while you feed your kwami, Bug." He lifted Dominique up bridal-style, much like he had done with Marinette, and she wrapped her hands around his neck and nuzzled her head into his muscular chest. A flare of jealousy rose up in Ladybug as Chat smirked down at the blushing girl and held her just a bit tighter.

_"How dare he! Don't I mean anything to him?"_ she fumed internally as they vaulted off the roof. A small voice in her head reminded her, _"You and Chat aren't even dating, talkless of being exclusive. You have no right to be jealous."_ Her curiosity and jealousy wouldn't allow her to forget though, and with 3 minutes left to spare, she followed the black superhero to Dominique's house. Ladybug landed on a roof just in time to see Dominique, with a fiery blush on her cheekbones, reaching up to kiss Chat's cheek. He bent low to kiss her hand and bid her goodbye. Ladybug felt anger and jealousy rising up in her. _"How dare she? That cat is **my** partner! No one else's!"_ The sound of her earrings beeping rapidly brought her out of her rage-fuelled thoughts. Swinging her yoyo onto a nearby streetlight, the black and red spotted heroine leapt off the roof and back to school. She detransformed behind the school and gave Tikki a cookie.

"Marinette, there aren't anymore akumas!" the mini-goddess exclaimed. Marinette couldn't believe her ears.

"Really? How do you know?"

"Us kwamis can feel when there are misused superpowers around. We've finally finished the battle!" she explained. Marinette squealed and jumped in the air. Then she realised something.

"I won't have to put mine and Chat Noir's miraculous back in the box, will I?" she asked anxiously.

Tikki shook her head happily. "You can decide what to do. You're the guardian, remember?"

Marinette sighed and nodded. She had learned to handle the pressure of being the guardian but still missed Master Fu immensely. Her mind went back to the earlier Akuma attack. "Can you believe that mangy alley-cat? Going around, kissing a pretty girl's hands and then coming to visit me as if it's fine!" she whispered frustratedly.

Tikki giggled and replied, "Marinette, you and Chat aren't exclusive - he's free to do what he wants. Besides, aren't you doing the same thing with Adrien?" Marinette froze mid-step and covered her face with her hands.

"Oh, Tikki, you're right! I have to beg for his forgiveness!" She looked up with an angry look on her face. "I'm gonna give that cat a piece of my mind at patrol tonight!"

In her purse, Tikki shook her head. _"These human beings really are something else."_

* * *

**A/N **

The hairpin was a chrysanthemum because that's the flower associated with November. I originally wanted to use a snowdrop but changed my mind.


	5. A Rose

Thanks again for reading my story! You can find the image board for this chapter on my Wattpad/Instagram account called miraculous_mxngo. There was a small reference to another cartoon that I love, hope some of you get it ;-). I wasn't sure how to feel about this chapter but I hope you like it!

* * *

Every night after an Akuma, Ladybug and Chat did an evening patrol, just in case the victim got akumatized again. Crime rates also rose the night of an attack so they made sure everything was fine. They would meet on the Eiffel Tower, search the city together and talk for a while. Chat was usually a few minutes early and today was no different. Ladybug swung in to land beside her leather-clad partner waiting patiently for her. At the sound of her feet, Chat turned around and grinned at the bug-hero. "Good evening, Ladybug." He bowed dramatically but Ladybug only frowned.

"Come on, Chat, let's just get patrol done."

He looked up at the tone in her voice and watched her fly off without him._ "Strange. She normally waits for me and at least tells me to stop joking around. Maybe she's upset about something. I hope it's not that boy she's liked all this time."_ He followed her hastily and they began patrol. While they would usually banter and joke around, tonight was silent and tense. They were finished patrol within half an hour.

At their arrival on the Eiffel Tower, Chat took Ladybug's hands and looked into her eyes. "Follow me, Bug." She was startled by the serious look in his eyes but swung after him. A few minutes later, they arrived at a candlelit roof nearby. Rose petals were scattered around and there was a basket next to a black blanket. Ladybug was surprised about how much effort he seemed to have put in. Chat grabbed the basket, sat on the blanket and patted next to him for Ladybug to sit. She sat down and rested her head on his shoulder. Chat began tentatively, "Ladybug-"

"Are we good, Chat?"

She spoke so quietly, Chat strained to hear her. "What?"

Ladybug sighed heavily and turned to face her partner. "I just feel like we've kinda been growing apart."

"What do you mean?" Chat asked.

"For starters, you barely joke around in fights anymore, which i miss a lot. You also don't call me 'M'Lady' anymore, and you seem to be into every other girl!" she stated angrily. "Like today, when you carried that Dominique and allowed her to kiss your cheek and kissed her hand! Don't you love me anymore?" She crossed her arms and turned around._ "I sound so pathetic and petty right now…"_

Chat was astonished. _"She really does like me back. After 3 years, I never thought I'd be so reluctant to hear those words." _He walked over to the woman he'd been in love with for so long and turned her around. "I promise you, Ladybug, I will never stop loving you." Marinette was shocked by the sincerity in his eyes and could only stare. Chat let go of her shoulders and faced the skyline. "I did bring you here for a reason," he slowly said. "I'm not in love with you anymore. I've found someone else."

Ladybug was taken aback. _"Wow… he really has moved on. I should be happy for him I guess…"_ "Who's the lucky girl? Or boy?"

Chat chuckled and replied jokingly, "I don't swing that way, M'Lady. The girl is...Marinette Dupain-Cheng." The spotted heroine forgot how to breathe for a moment.

_"In and out, Marinette. You can do this."_ "Isn't she the klutzy bakery girl?

Chat looked back at Ladybug incredulously. "How can you say that? She's kind, compassionate and so caring to everyone!" He remembered Chloé and Lila and corrected himself. "Almost everyone. She's talented, hilarious and adorable. She's so brave and always looks out for people. She even stands up to bullies when no-one else does. And, my god, she is beautiful. Her hair always looks flawless and her eyes are like sapphires. She's so small and cute, like a mouse."

Ladybug sighed lightly and smiled sadly at Chat. "You must really like her, huh?"

Chat grinned back. "I really do."

Strangely, the teen felt her eyes welling up with tears. Chat also noticed and pulled his partner in for a hug. _"What is wrong with me? I should be happy that he's in love with me."_ But she realised that he wasn't in love with her - he was in love with Marinette. _"Before, Marinette wasn't good enough. Now I guess Ladybug isn't good enough. There will always be a part of me that's not good enough."_ She sobbed into Chat's chest as he comforted her by rubbing small circles into her back.

After a while she laughed without mirth, "I guess this is how you felt all those times I rejected you." Chat nodded sadly. A fresh wave of tears welled up and she cried out, "How can you still love me after that? I hurt you so many times!"

"Someday, somewhere, somehow, you'll love again. Youjust need to find someone. I promise you, M'Lady."

They stayed like that for a while, Ladybug weeping into Chat's chest while he led her close. Eventually, her tears ebbed away and she managed to pull away. Rubbing her eyes, she mumbled shamefully, "Sorry for everything Chat."

He gave her a lopsided grin and replied, "Don't worry about it, Bug. Wait here. I need to get something." He jumped out into the night sky and Ladybug sat down, feeling immense self-pity and -loathing. _"I'm such a pathetic person. Crying for someone who loves my civilian self but I can't have as a superhero. If only I could've returned his feelings earlier." _Chat landed behind her and she turned to meet his illuminated face. "He really is too handsome for words." "I see my knight in shining leather has come back." He grinned at her and brought a box from behind his back. Ladybug gasped when she saw it.

It was a glass dome with a yellow rose inside it, much like the rose from Beauty and the Beast. Mini fairy lights wrapped around the stem and wove in between the petals. Carved into the plate was 'LB CN' with hearts on either side. On the bottom of the box, he had carved 'Together Forever' and underneath it, 'Unstoppable'. Chat looked up to see Ladybug with her hand over her mouth and her eyes overflowing with tears. A look of concern appeared on his face.

_"Uh oh."_ "Do you not like it, M'Lady?" She blinked, allowing more tears to spill over, and shook her head.

"I love it. So so much. Thank you, Chat," she replied with such a teary voice that Chat couldn't help but pull her into a bone-crushing hug.

"I love you, Bug,"

"I love you too, kitty,",

They talked and ate for nearly an hour. Chat had brought cookies, croissants and hot chocolate, which were all very delicious. Right before they parted ways, Ladybug made a decision. "Chat," she began tentatively. "I've decided that its time for us to reveal our identities to each other." Chat's mouth fell open and he gaped at his partner. "Not now! Just, now that there aren't any more akumas, there's not much point in hiding it from each other," she reasoned and looked down at her clasped hands. When Chat didn't reply, she looked up and found him with a shit-eating grin on his face. "Don't make it weird, Chat, or I'll change my mind," she warned. Chat's face fell and he nodded.

"When should we do it?" he asked.

Ladybug thought for a moment before declaring, "Two weeks time on December 21st."

Chat nodded. "Last day of school. Any reason why?"

"I just thought it would be nice. We'll meet on the Eiffel Tower and…," she trailed off, mesmerised by her partner. _"He looks so...perfect. How didn't I see it before? His face is so symmetrical and defined, his eyes are so green and his lips…."_ her eyes trailed downwards. _"He's so muscular and masculine. He could be a model and I would gladly put pictures of him next to Adrien…"_

"LADYBUG!" Chat yelled. She blinked twice and snapped out of her thoughts.

"Sorry! I keep getting distracted," she mumbled.

Chat flexed his muscles and smirked, "By my pawsitively purrfect body?"

Ladybug blushed and muttered very quietly, "Yes," Chat turned very red very quickly and rubbed the nape of his neck.

"I'm sorry, M'Lady."

She smiled sadly at him. "It's not your fault, kitty. I guess we just had really bad timing.

Chat nodded and put out his fist. " Pound it?"

Ladybug smiled at him and bumped her fist against his. "Pound it."

They left in opposite directions back to their houses. Adrien detransformed behind the mansion and strolled into his house with Plagg floating behind him. "What's got you so happy, kid?" he asked playfully.

Adrien turned and grinned at the small black kwami. "Well, Plagg, I finally have the chance to know my Lady behind the mask. I can't wait for her to see who I am as well." he smiled as he walked into his room and flopped on his bed. "Hopefully she won't be disappointed. I wouldn't be able to take it if she hated me." A thought passed through his head. "Can you imagine if Ladybug was Lila?" he visibly shuddered. "I'm sure she's someone I would like."

Plagg chuckled to himself and settled on a pillow. "Oh, kid. You have no idea…." As Plagg slowly fell asleep, Adrien pulled his phone out and opened Snapchat. Ever since Gabriel had left, he has gotten all forms of social media and with it, many nudes from random girls he didn't know. He was also now able to keep up with his friends without constant monitoring from his father and Nathalie. Checking Marinette's story, he smiled at the photo of her posing in one of her new designs. He tapped the screen but his smile slowly morphed into a frown at the sight of Luka with his arms around her while she drew in her bedroom. _"What is he doing in her house?" _Jealousy began to rise in the teen and the more he looked at the photo, the angrier he felt. Deep down, he knew that nothing was going on between them but it still hurt to see someone you liked a lot sitting close with someone know to have a history with them. Marinette had rejected Luka in the kindest way possible but everyone knew that the musician still harboured some feelings for the bluenette. _"That boy had better learn to keep his paws off my girl," _he thought angrily. Until he realised, _"She's not my girl. At least not yet."_ He clicked Marinette's contact and began typing.

_'hey, Mari.'_

A minute passed before she replied.

**'hey, Adrien'**

**'what are u doing up so late?"**

_'i could ask u the same thing'_

**'let's just say we're both busy and leave it that ;-)'**

"Ooh, a winky face eh?" Adrien said out loud. "Two can play at that game."

'_i never did get to tell u just how ravishing u looked today ;-)'_

_'i almost forgive u for not wearing my hoodie'_

A few minutes passed and Adrien worried that he went too far. _"I've said worse to her though… as Chat..."_

**'maybe it's better that I didn't wear it'**

**'i wouldn't want u to become a drooling mess on account of little old me ;-)'**

Adrien blushed lightly and grinned. _"She's not wrong."_

_'I know I wouldn't mind being a drooling mess for u, Mari'_

**'ooh, agreste'**

**'I see u can be quite the flirt'**

_'only for you, princess'_

He typed and sent it before he could process what he was doing. His message popped up and his face drained of colour. _"Uh oh. Only Chat calls her that."_

**'so I guess ur my knight in shining armour?'**

He sighed in relief.

_'Of course princess'_

_'Who else would save you from danger?'_

**'and what danger am in, pray tell?'**

**'Blue haired monsters that try to steal you away from me'**

Seconds passed by. Was he being too possessive? They weren't dating after all.

**'I assure you, dear knight, no blue-haired monster will be stealing me away any time soon'**

_'perfect'_

_'i will be keeping you all to myself ;-)'_

**'and I'll stay home and cook and clean and have lots of babies for my handsome prince'**

_'that sounds so good'_

**'are you shitting me rn?'**

**'is that all women are good for?'**

_"Uh oh. Feminist rant coming my way,"_

he thought, very scared for what might happen to him.

'_Of course not, princess'_

_'You will be right there fighting beside me'_

**'nice save, **dear** night'**

**'but u better watch urself'**

**'i am a raging feminist and I'm not afraid to show it'**

_'i'll take ur word for it'_

_'but seeing you all riled up does do unspeakable things to me ;-)'_

**'mmm, what kind of things?'**

_'oh, princess'_

_'u don't wanna know'_

**'well, seeing you shirtless in photoshoots does unspeakable things to me, hot stuff ;-)'**

**'it takes so much control not to jump ur bones there and then…'**

A fiery blush coated Adrien's cheekbones and he gulped nervously.

_'don't say things you don't mean, princess'_

**'oh but I mean every word'**

**'I could just steal you away into ur trailer'**

**'lead you to a hidden alleyway'**

**'pin you against a wall… ( ͡ ͜ʖ ͡)'**

_'ok that's enough'_

Adrien had gotten very hot throughout their exchange and now, he was ready to explode.

**'what's the problem, mon cherí?'**

**'when you play with fire, you might get burned'**

'_Oh princess'_

_'u haven't seen fire yet'_

'**are u gonna tell me about how u ogle at me when no one is watching?'**

_'I'm offended, princess'_

_'I don't ogle'_

_'I carefully appreciate'_

**' all I hear is ogle'**

_'cheeky'_

**'only for you, hot stuff ;-)'**

**'sorry, dear knight, but I must retire to my quarters'**

_'until 'morrow, fair princess'_

**'Adieu, adieu!'**

**':-)'**

Adrien chuckled and put his phone on his bedside table. After working out in his private gym and eating dinner, he silently prayed to any God up there that he would find a way to keep both of the most important women in his life. Little did he know that across Paris, a blue-haired girl was wishing the exact same thing

* * *

\\_( ͡ ͜ʖ ͡)/

Whaddya think?


	6. An Exchange

Thanks for reading my story! You can find the image board on my Instagram called miraculous_mxngo. I've kinda been having a writer's block so I posted a bit late this week, just so I know I have chapters in advance. I'll try to upload next week but I make no promises! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

༼ ͡ ͜ʖ ͡ ༽

* * *

On Monday morning, Marinette felt bold. After her conversation with Adrien, he seemed to like her sassy side, which didn't really come out with him. She had also started designing a new line of clothes and wanted to show it off at school. On Monday she put her outfit together and straightened her hair. It dropped a bit lower than her butt and made her look like an anime character. She decided that was a good thing. She also decided to wear Adrien's hoodie, just to placate him. As she buried her nose in it, she noticed that his intoxicating scent was beginning to fade. _"Can I ask him to wear it without making it weird?"_ she wondered absently. _"No. It is most definitely weird."_ It was at moments like this that she wished they were dating already. Life would be so much easier then. Suddenly, another blonde-haired green-eyed boy popped into her thoughts and she felt decidedly guilty. She really ought to pay more attention to Chat; he had, after all, convinced her to go after her crush in the first place. _"But hasn't Chat become my crush?" _Scattering away her battling thoughts, Marinette sat down and carefully applied a cat-eye and mascara onto her eyes. Deciding to be even bolder, she wore dark red lipstick and blew a kiss to herself in the mirror. She didn't wear make-up often, mainly because she didn't have time, but when she did, she felt like a queen. And wasn't that the point of make-up anyway?

Tikki flew out of her mini-bed and her eyes lit up at the sight of her miraculous holder. "Wow, Marinette! You look stunning! I'm sure Adrien will love it even more!" she exclaimed

Marinette beamed and replied, "Thanks, Tikki! I'm also gonna try and be more confident today, not just for Adrien, but for me too!" She put up a finger for Tikki to high-five with her hand (or the equivalent for a kwami) and grabbed a black purse. After hugging her mum and grabbing an apple and croissant, she rushed to school, already a bit late.

Already in the classroom, Adrien was eager to see Marinette again. He had never seen sassy Marinette and wanted to tease her about it. Nino looked at his best friend with an amused glint in his eye. He had suspected that Adrien had a crush on Marinette for nearly 2 years. Finally, they had a chance now that his creepy Ladybug obsession was over. Suddenly, the door slammed open and in came a very breathless Marinette. "Sorry I'm late, Ms Bustier," she panted. As she pulled off his hoodie, Adrien felt his jaw drop and eyes widen.

_"Holy fucking shit…"_

Marinette was wearing a dark green off-the-shoulder top with black paw prints going diagonally from her left shoulder to just under her right bust. Her right shoulder was exposed and the fabric held together with golden straps. Her bottom half was just as amazing - she was wearing blue skinny jeans that hugged her hips and black ankle boots with a green and black kitty anklet. Even her light make-up just accentuated her natural beauty. Her hair looked so dark, silky and perfect - she looked like a goddess and Adrien would gladly worship her all day. _"Jesus Christ, Agreste, you sound like a lovesick poet,"_

When Marinette walked to her seat, Adrien felt a light touch on his shoulder and shivered. He spun around to look confusedly at her but she only smirked and winked. He activated tomato mode and quickly turned back to face the front. _"Ok, smirking winking Marinette is not something we're used to but we can survive ok! Agrestes always know what to do. Oh my god, did I really just say that? What is this woman doing to me? Wow, now Nino's doing that eyebrow thing again. I really don't understand how Alya puts up with him."_

Nino was watching his friend's inner turmoil and trying his hardest not to laugh. Alya was busy hyping up Marinette about how fantastic she looked and Ms Bustier was busy questioning her life choices and contemplating whether or not to become a priest just so she can illegally wed her two favourite students. Remembering that she had a class to teach, she stood up and clapped her hands. _"Pull yourself together Caline. In 6 hours, you can go back to rosé, the cats and Friends."_ When everyone and looked up, she announced, "Ok, class! Before we begin another exciting lesson in history, I have an announcement to make. It will soon be Christmas and it's a Collège François Dupónt tradition for you to have some sort of gift-exchanging on your last year. Our class president, Marinette, will be organising it so any ideas should go to her."

Adrien turned around again to admire his princess. How she was able to design clothes, stay near the top of the class, help out in her bakery and be class president for 3 years running, he didn't understand. She smiled a little and did a little finger-wave. He grinned back and leaned forward to whisper, "Hi princess."

She blushed a little but leaned forward as well to whisper, "Hi hot stuff."

_"She will be the end of me." _Adrien went very red and turned back around. He could hear Marinette and Alya giggling behind him and Nino making confused sounds beside him.

"Dude, what was that? Are you and Marinette dating or something?" he whispered incredulously. Adrien shook his head so much, it could have spun off and flown away. Ms Bustier began the lesson but once again, Adrien couldn't focus, only thinking about his princess.

_"Not yours, Agreste. She's her own person. Feminism and all that."_ He was ready to start putting more action into plan Princess.

At the end of History, Marinette called for everyone to meet in the canteen so they could figure out a gift-exchange. "Ok, guys. You can give ideas and we'll all decide whether we want it or not. At the end of break, we should have at least 5 ideas that we can vote for in class at the end of the day," she announced. Everyone nodded their heads at this and began to shout ideas. "Ok, Kim, what's your idea?"

Kim stood on the table and posed dramatically, "We should do a dare exchange!" He yelled the last part and everyone shook their heads at the same time while Alix cried with laughter.

"Anyone else?"

Sabrina put her hand up excitedly. "Ooh, why don't we do a fashion exchange! We all design something that matches the personality of your person!" Some nodded in agreement.

"Ok, I'll write that one down. Any other ideas?" After a few minutes, they had come up with 7 ideas: fashion, food, Pokemon, cookie, poem, jewellery and random gift. Most people had left to go to the other class and only Marinette and Adrien remained.

"Thanks for waiting up, Adrien," Marinette said to him while packing her stuff.

"No problem, princess," he smiled back. "But I am rather annoyed because my idea wasn't heard."

Marinette's face fell and she said worriedly, "Oh I'm sorry Adrien. What was it? I'm sure everyone would like it."

Adrien grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth, smirking. "We should do a heart exchange because I'll gladly give you mine." He kissed her hand in a very Chat-like manner. Marinette blushed and slapped his hand away, laughing.

"That wasn't very chivalrous of you, dear knight. Aren't you supposed to protect me from people stealing me away?"

"I'm the only one allowed to steal you, princess." He grinned at her as she burst out laughing again. _"She's beautiful."_

"But what if I want the blue-haired monster to steal me away from you?" she asked mischievously. Adrien growled and tickled her tummy.

"Never. You're my princess." She stopped laughing and looked up at him fondly, her hands on his toned chest.

"Is my knight possessive of me?"

Adrien didn't reply, he only leaned into her face. She blushed intensely but leaned in as well. Their noses were almost touching, just a bit closer...

"DUPAIN-CHENG! COME HERE!" They jumped apart to see Chloé standing in front of them. "Hi, Adrikins! DUPAIN-CHENG! GET YOUR HALF-ASIAN ASS OVER HERE!"

Marinette rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag. She leaned in to whisper, "See you later, hot stuff." She walked away with a grin on her face while Adrien stared back at her, dumbstruck.

_"She really will be the end of me."_

Chloe grabbed Marinette's arm and dragged her to the locker room. When they got there, Marinette was pretty pissed off. "Is there a problem, Chloe? Why did you have to interrupt Adrien and I's ...conversation?" she asked.

Chloe flicked her hair and looked at her nails. "Don't make this weird or anything but I need some advice," she muttered. Marinette had to double-take. Chloe Bourgeois, queen bee of the school, needed her advice?

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me, Dupain-Cheng. I need your help."

Shaking her head in disbelief, Marinette slowly said, "Okay, what do you need help with?"

"Tomato-boy."

Marinette almost fell over from shock. "Nathaniel Kutzberg? You're into him?"

Chloe looked up and said sarcastically "Oh no, I just want to burn his face off and I needed your help on how to do that. Could you lend me a blowtorch, maybe?" Marinette stared dumbly at her. Chloe threw her hands up in exasperation and exclaimed, "Yes, I'm into him! Aren't you supposed to be smart?"

"Ok, so why do you need my help?" Marinette inquired.

"Well, he liked you that one time and basically all the boys wanna date you. How do you do it?"

Marinette laughed at the irony. "Alright, Chloe. First rule, you're gonna need to start calling me by my name."

"Dupain-Cheng?"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "No, my first one!"

"But I don't want to!"

"Do you want my help or not?"

"Fine...Marinette," she reluctantly let out. Marinette smiled.

"Great! Now, to start with, you need to be much nicer to everyone."

"Nope. I'm only here for tomato-boy. Everyone else can piss off."

"Fine, be nice to only Nathaniel. But don't go up to him and compliment him or he'll think you're making fun of him. Maybe buy him paintbrushes for his birthday next week?"

"Sure, Marinette." She shuddered. "Ooh, that feels weird in my mouth."

Marinette started to leave but Chloe grabbed her arm. "I….uhhh...I just wanted to apologise for.. you know," she mumbled

Marinette raised her eyebrow. "Tormenting me for most of my life?"

Chloé went a bit red. "I was a troubled child, ok? But yeah. Can we try to be… not enemies?"

Marinette honestly wanted to throw her apology back in her face. But the fact that Chloe was willing to change, even if it was just for her crush, made Marinette see that maybe there was a heart under all that ice. She had grown from the jealous, vindictive bitch into a slightly less intense version of her younger self. So Marinette smiled and nodded. "Frenemies?" She put her pinkie out. Chloe smiled and linked her pinkie with Marinette's.

"Frenemies."

They walked out of the locker room grinning at each other. Adrien, waiting for Marinette, felt his jaw drop and eyes widen at the sight of the two girls next to each other without arguing. Chloe smirked at him and closed his mouth. "I can be mature when needed, Adrikins. Good luck with your girlfriend!" she teased as she walked away. Both Marinette and Adrien blushed intensely and giggled at each other.

"We should probably get back to class," Marinette mumbled. Adrien grinned fondly and put his hand on the small of her back.

"Let me escort you, fair princess," he said dramatically. Marinette giggled and moved his arm to rest on her shoulders. It felt strangely comfortable and they walked to class laughing and blushing at each other.

At the end of the day, the class voted for which exchange to do. They ended up choosing a cookie exchange, which won against food and poem by just 1 vote. Marinette had written everyone's name on small pieces of paper and put them in her purse while Tikki hid in her hoodie. The exchange pairs were so:

Sabrina got Kim, Kim got Rose, Rose got Nino, Nino got Alix, Alix got Alya, Alya got Juleka, Juleka got Ivan, Ivan got Chloe, Chloe got Nathaniel, Nathanial got Mylene, Mylene got Adrien, Adrien got Marinette, Marinette got Max and Max got Sabrina.

Most people were happy with who they got and Adrien was over the moon._ "Now's my chance to spend more time with her as Chat!"_ When the choosing was finished, everyone went home and Adrien walked out to his car with Marinette, laughing and joking with her. When they got there Adrien pulled Marinette into a hug, as they usually did. When he put her down, however, she was blushing a lot. _"Come on, Marinette. You've done this before."_

Adrien's eyes widened as Marinette leaned in with her eyes closed. He felt her warm breath on his ear and her soft lips touched his cheek for a few seconds. When she pulled away, they were both blushing a lot and Marinette smiled sheepishly at him. Adrien smiled back and leaned in to kiss her cheek as well. Both were grinning stupidly at each other and didn't even register Nino's gasp or Ms Bustier's squeal of excitement. "Bye, princess," he smiled. She smirked and replied, "Bye, hot stuff." Adrien stared after her for a few seconds as she walked away, then got in his car and drove off.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOO!"


	7. A Cookie

Thanks for reading my story! I'm really sorry again for the late update. I'm trying to write chapters in advance but I really just wanna skip the filler and get to the ending! I'll try to post again this time next week to give myself more time to write. Also, someone in the comments said that I had forgotten Ivan in the exchange list. Thank you for pointing this out to me because I though I had included everyone! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Something big happens!

* * *

Adrien had a plan. It was a very good plan. He was going to find a way to date Marinette before the Christmas holidays if it was the last thing he did and the cookie exchange was the perfect starting point. He already knew that she was in love with him but her feelings for Chat were hidden. On Friday, he would go to her house, beg her to teach him how to make her favourite cookies and sweep her off her feet. He explained this all to Plagg when they got home but the kwami of destruction was much less enthusiastic about it than Adrien. "Listen, kid," he drawled. "This is bound to go wrong. Believe me, I've seen many Chat Noirs try to woo their Ladybugs and most attempts ended with tears, intense drinking or hairballs." Adrien cocked his head, almost like a dog, at Plagg in question. The kwami waved his equivalent of hands and said, exasperated, "Details don't matter. What I'm trying to say is, be careful. Your time may not have come." Adrien nodded solemnly and sat on his bed. Exactly 4 seconds passed before his grin appeared back on his face and he leapt up.

"Should I text her to make sure she has the ingredients?" he asked while pacing. He then slapped his head. "Of course she'll have the ingredients! She literally lives in a bakery! Come on, Agreste!" Plagg rolled his eyes fondly and phased into the fridge to feast on his Camembert. He had conveniently left out one very vital piece of information: almost every single Chat Noir has ended up with Ladybug. But it was fun to watch Adrien squirm for a while.

Friday rolled around and Adrien was practically bouncing in his seat for the moment the bell would go off and he could go see his princess as Chat. Ms Bustier had barely dismissed the class before Adrien got up, dashed out of school, hopped into his car and started driving off. _"Wait! I forgot to say bye to Marinette!"_ He braked, reversed, hopped back out of his car and dashed back into school. He saw Marinette walking with Chloe and Alya, a very peculiar sight indeed, and ran towards her. "Sorry, princess!" he panted breathlessly. "I've...got places...to be." He grabbed her small face in his hands and pressed a kiss to her cheek, almost touching her mouth, and ran off again. "Bye, princess!" he yelled while waving behind him. Marinette was left with a bright red colouring her cheeks and her fingertips softly tracing the place where he had kissed her. Chloe and Alya both knowingly smirked at each other and linked arms with the blushing bluenette, leading her out of the school.

Night fell and Marinette prepared to get down to some hardcore designing or baking, depending on how inspired she was. Her parents were in Lyon, the capital city of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, for a large catering order and would be back on Sunday evening. Tikki had gone downstairs to get a snack but after half an hour, Marinette was beginning to feel rather lonely so she decided to call Alya. After a few rings, she picked up.

"Hey, girl. You ok?"

"Hi, Alya. I was wondering if you wanted to come round? My parents aren't home and I'm starting to feel like a loner."

"Of course! We can make some good old Dupain-Cheng snacks, yeah?"

"Sure, but don't complain to me when you have an outbreak from the sugar overload!"

Alya laughed and cut the phone. A few minutes later, she burst through the bedroom door, laden with her overnight bag, movies and various hair accessories. "Hey, girl! You ready to get this slumber party on?" she asked with her hand on her hips.

Marinette laughed and rolled her eyes. "Put a movie on and you can start braiding my hair." They sat on the chaise watched Rapunzel, laughing and chatting about anything and everything. A few times, Marinette debated telling Alya about her late-night visits from Chat Noir. Then she pictured the brunette's reaction and decided that she would tell her another time.

After 50 minutes, Alya stood up, paused the movie and announced, "I'm going downstairs to get cookies and hot chocolate. Don't play it or I will chop your braids off." Marinette chuckled to herself and grabbed her sketchbook, deciding to continue her Chat Noir line. After all, you can never have too many designs. After a few minutes, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and goosebumps prickled her skin. Suddenly, a soft nose rubbed against the back of her neck.

"Well, _purr_incess, I had no idea you were such a fan of _mew_," a low, husky voice rumbled by her ear. Leather-clad arms snuck around her torso and pulled her back flush against hard muscles. "First, you wear this _purr_fectly _paw_some top, and now you're designing more clothes! Does someone have a crush?" Marinette felt herself blushing and wrapped her arms around the intruder's neck.

"Chat, what are you doing here? For all you know, I could've been naked," she murmured.

"Doesn't my purrincess deserve to be appreciated at every o-_purr-tuna_-tee?" Marinette turned to see an impish smirk and a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Really? Is that all you could come up with?" she asked, unimpressed by his pun. "You seem to be really losing your touch."

Chat laughed and rolled his eyes, pressed his face into her neck, mumbling, "You may laugh at me now, but it takes a lot of guts for a guy to come up with puns just for a pretty girl. Give us some credit."

Marinette giggled and replied, "I bet if a girl walked up to you and said she would spend all her nine lives, you'd just… collapse in a puddle of goo."

Chat's eyes widened before he smirked and leaned into her face. "You're speaking my love language, princess," he whispered huskily. His vivid green eyes flicked down to rest on her lips and Marinette felt her heart race speed up and her head gravitated towards his. Chat's hands slowly dragged up to her cheeks and he pulled her in. _"Just … a bit … closer…"_

"WHAT THE **FUCK** IS GOING ON!" Marinette and Chat sprung apart to see a very pissed off Alya watching them. She was holding two mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of cookies, her blazing eyes flickering between the two of them. "I leave for 5 minutes and come back to find Paris' biggest flirt trying to swap saliva with my BFF!" she exclaimed furiously. "Marinette, you should know better than this! And what about Adrien? I thought you were waiting until he finally sees how frickin awesome you are! Don't waste your time on Chat Noir!"

Marinette stood up with her hand in Chat's spiky hair and began, "Alya, I know him so much better than I did before and he's not the flirt you thin-"

"And now you're making excuses for him? He's poisoning your sense of right and wrong! Deep down, we both know he's nothing but a mangy alley cat that will break your heart!"

"Don't you dare," Marinette snapped. "He is so much more than that. Yes, he has a jokey, flirty side but he's also kind and caring! He cheers me up when I'm feeling down and respects my boundaries. Don't judge him when you barely know his character."

"Oh, and you do?" Alya retorted.

"Yes, actually, I do. He comes to visit nearly every Friday and we've grown close," Marinette fired back.

They stared each other down until Alya pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Fine," she conceded. "But don't expect me to keep this from Adrien and Nino."

Chat looked up and asked timidly, "Should I come back another time, princess?"

Alya stared incredulously at him but Marinette replied swiftly, "No, kitty. You obviously came for a reason. Alya, are you willing to cooperate?"

Sighing heavily, Alya said, "No, I need to process this… situation. I'm gonna head to Nino's house, kay girl?" Marinette nodded stiffly. "See you later then, Mari," she waved and walked out. Chat pulled Marinette back onto the chaise and held her round face in his clawed hands.

"Princess?"

"I'm fine, Chat," she reassured him. "Alya will come around, she always does. Now, is there a specific reason you're in my house or do you just want the cookies and cuddles?" she teased.

Chat grinned sheepishly and replied, "Yes, there is. I need your help on how to bake cookies."

Marinette grinned and winked, "Well, I am rather skilled in that department."

Chat smirked and rubbed his chin, as if deep in thought. "Makes me wonder what other departments you're skilled at, purrincess." Marinette blushed at his double entendre and slapped his shoulder. "Calm down, princess. I'm just kitten. Let's go downstairs and you can show me just how skilled you are at making cookies."

When they got to the kitchen, Marinette stated, "My favourite kind of cookie is chocolate chip but we can also do sugar cookies." He nodded in agreement.

Marinette expected Chat to just need reminding on the best recipe for cookies. In reality, he was completely and utterly clueless. He had never seen an electric whisk before and almost burned the house down by setting the oven way too high. When he tried to reason that the higher the oven, the faster the cookies would bake, she groaned in defeat. 2 failed batches later, Marinette was stumped. "Chat, have you ever actually made cookies yourself?"

Chat shook his head and replied sadly, "My father never really had time for me so I'm pretty new to all this." Marinette felt for her friend. She knew how hard it was to have a parent who was distant - Adrien had told them as much. She decided that it was her duty to help him and fill the obvious hole in his heart.

"Well then, we better pick up the pace if we're gonna make you a cookie queen, like me," she smiled. Chat grinned back and pretended to roll up his sleeves. After half an hour, they had 7 sugar cookies and 7 chocolate chip ones. "Ok, Chat, we can ice 3 of the sugar cookies with royal icing, which is good for messages. Anything, in particular, you'd like to say?"

Chat shook his head and said, "Can we try a heart?" She nodded slowly and began mixing the icing sugar, water and red food colouring. When it was a perfect consistency, she poured the mixture into a ziplock bag and cut a small hole in the bottom. She gestured for Chat to watch her and began slowly drawing out a heart

"You just have to keep a steady...," she paused when Chat stood right against her back and put his hands around her arms and softly over her hands, moving with her. His hands were so big that they completely surrounded Marinette's. They finished the first cookie and moved onto the next one. Again, Chat moved with Marinette and carefully drew the heart. A few times, Marinette looked up to see his brow knitted and tongue stuck out in concentration. _"Aww, how cute,"_ she smiled fondly.

When he had finished, he took the icing bag out of her hands and did the last heart himself. It was slightly wonkier than the other two but he had clearly tried his best. He turned to grin triumphantly at Marinette and declared, "I officially dub myself the icing queen. Thank you." He ended with a dramatic bow that got Marinette giggling. He raised his head up and asked tentatively, "Is there any chance I can take these cookies home?"

Marinette grinned and replied, "Of course you can, kitty. Let me get a bag for you." She bent over and opened a cupboard under the tabletop. Chat was finding it very hard to keep his body under control but what was he supposed to do? He was a healthy teenage boy with hormones running around like mad.

_"Just recite pi, Agreste. 3.141592...,"_ Marinette stood up and looked curiously at Chat, whose face was bright red with eyes squeezed shut.

"Uhh, Chat? Are you ok?"

"5897!" he blurted out and opened his eyes widely. Deciding not to comment on his strange behaviour, Marinette put all the cookies into the bag, except the three iced ones.

"Are you ready to go, kitty?"

"Yes, princess." They walked up the stairs and when they got to the balcony, Chat went to stand at the edge of the railing, Marinette hovering behind him. She stood on her tip-toes, ready to kiss his cheek but at the last moment, he turned around to say something. Their lips touched for a second before they sprung apart.

"I'm so sorry, I meant to kiss your cheek," Marinette sputtered.

"No, I'm sorry I should've warned you," Chat apologised. Both were furiously blushing and refusing to meet the other's eyes. "Well, maybe you should p-practice?" Chat stuttered.

"Practice?"

"Yes! You n-need to be p-prepared in case this happens w-with l-loverboy, r-right?" he nervously stumbled over his words. Inwardly, Marinette laughed - Chat was normally such a casanova. She thought his words over.

_"Well, I am pretty inexperienced in the kissing department. Maybe just once?"_ She knew it was a bad idea but her feelings were once again clouding her proper judgement. She nodded once and closed her eyes, preparing herself for his kiss. She felt his clawed hands hold her cheeks. The kiss didn't come immediately though. He first pressed his lips to her forehead, then the corner of her mouth. Finally, he softly placed his lips on hers. The first thing she noticed was that his lips were quite soft, if a tiny bit chapped - probably from the night air. He pulled away after a few seconds and studied her glazed eyes, trying to find any evidence of fear or regret. Upon finding none, he pressed his lips to hers again, this time with a bit more force. His hands moved from her cheeks to her shoulders and her hands found their way to his muscular chest. It felt strangely natural and Marinette found herself pressing back. He pulled away again but this time she pulled him down to her. His hands started rubbing up and down her sides and she sighed softly. With her mouth open, the kiss immediately became deeper. Chat pulled her closer to him and dragged his hands to the curve of her hips. Marinette's hands found their way into his blonde locks. _"He tastes like butter and sugar, the perfect match,"_ she thought absently. As her hands drifted to the nape of his neck, she felt a small but deep scar. "_At least now I know he isn't physically perfect."_ Chat moved his mouth to her jawline and began placing featherlight kisses there. When he moved lower to suck on her neck, she groaned deeply and dragged his face back up to meet her lips, kissing him frantically. A little longer than a few minutes later, they broke apart for air and their loud pants filled the night. Marinette dared to look up at Chat and immediately felt very hot. His hair looked like he had just been ravished and his lips were deliciously swollen. His eyes had glazed but he was smirking in his usual way. "That was… wow," Marinette mumbled.

"Oh, was it now?" Chat teased. She felt her face flush and turned around. "Awww, princess, don't be like that. Why don't we try again? I promise I'll be nice," he coaxed. Reluctantly, she turned around and pressed her lips to his again, taking him by surprise. His hands found their place on her hips and he pulled her into him. _"She tastes so sweet, like chocolate and cinnamon, the perfect match,"_ he thought absently. A little while later, they broke apart again and Chat rested his forehead against hers, panting slightly into her mouth. "I think you're a natural. Loverboy is in for a treat." At the reminder of Adrien, Marinette suddenly freaked out.

"O-okay that's enough p-practice for one night!" she stuttered frantically and pulled away from his head. Chat smirked at her turmoil and dragged her back into his chest. He adoringly placed a kiss into her hair and smelt her coconut shampoo. When he let her go, she was blushing again but looked up at him with curiosity and passion. "This can't happen again, Chat," she murmured. "I can't do this while I'm still in love with Adrien."

"I know, princess. I know…"

* * *

We got a kiss! I can smell some angst coming along...


	8. A Movie

Thanks again for reading my story! Sorry (again) for posting so late. All the comments är so sweet and they really make my day! I'll try to post earlier next week but my weekends are usually full of cleaning :-( It's annoyingly taking me a while to write more chapters in advance because I hate writing angst. :p It ain't here yet, though, so enjoy this fluff while it's here!

I don't own any of the characters

* * *

For the rest of the weekend, Adrien was on cloud 9. He really couldn't believe his luck, which he voiced to Plagg. Many, many times. It was getting rather annoying. So when, for the 15th time that Saturday, Adrien proclaimed his love for her, the god of destruction had had enough. "Adrien!" he yelled. "There's more to life than a girl! When was the last time you even went on patrol?" Adrien looked down, guilty. "Exactly."

"I'm sorry, Plagg. I promise I'll go on patrol as soon as possible," Adrien said sincerely. He sat in his spinny-chair and his dopey grin appeared again. Plagg rolled his eyes and flew off to find some cheese. It seemed like Camembert was the only competent being in his life at the moment.

Meanwhile, Marinette was repenting for her sins. Literally. She had brought out her old Adrien photos, lit some tea-light candles and had fallen to her knees, begging for forgiveness. Tikki was watching in amusement but was also starting to get tired of her holder's wallowing. "Marinette, you need to get up! You and Adrien aren't even dating!"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER! I'VE BETRAYED MY FEELINGS FOR HIM!" she howled in agony. Tikki rolled her eyes and flew off to find some cookies.

Monday came and with it, the two teens were very anxious to see each other for two different reasons. Marinette didn't even bother to dress up - she just threw on Adrien's hoodie, which she definitely did not deserve to wear, and a pair of old jeans. She ended up leaving late after debating whether or not to skip school and hide from Adrien. When she arrived at her class, she stopped at the sound of Alya's loud voice. "-break her heart and he even called her princess! Isn't that your nickname for Mari? I think we-"

"I think we shouldn't be talking about her personal life," a softer voice interjected. "She's allowed to be with who she wants."

"Normally, I'd agree with you but dude, this is Chat Noir we're talking about. He's known for being a flirt," another voice joined in. Suddenly tired of being talked around behind her back, Marinette opened the door and walked in.

"Hey guys," she said in her normal tone. "Is everything ok?" Alya and Nino's mouths immediately slammed shut but Adrien just looked at her with a small smile.

"Uhh, yeah, dudette! Absolutely nothing's going on!" Nino nervously said. Alya nodded frantically and wrung her hands. Adrien looked at them in disappointment and shook his head.

"Marinette, Alya and Nino are worried about your… interactions with Chat Noir," he slowly said.

Alya, who had been trying to keep her mouth shut, burst out, "Yes! He's only gonna break your heart, Mari!"

"And how do you know his heart hasn't been broken as well?" she asked while crossing his arms.

Alya rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "Oh, yes! No one wants a super sexy superhero for a boyfriend."

"He's human too! Not just a superhero! And I'm sure he's been rejected before, just like anyone else!" she retorted angrily.

"Yes, but he's known for being a flirt! He literally flirts with everyone!" Alya yelled.

"And have you got any actual evidence of him dating someone and cheating on them or breaking their heart?" Marinette asked. Alya opened her mouth to reply but caught herself.

"There are rumo-,"

"Oh yes, and everyone knows to always believe rumours. You need to stop being so stereotypical and saying that every attractive male is a heartbreaker!" Marinette snapped. By now, everyone was listening in on their argument and waiting for Ms Bustier to tell them to stop. Little did they know, she was watching just as intensely as they were.

"Ok guys, stop arguing," Adrien stood up and put his hands between the two fuming girls. "Marinette, switch with Nino."

"With pleasure," she growled and sat next to Adrien. Alya was glaring daggers at the two of them but they took no notice. When Ms Bustier began the class, Adrien scooted closer to Marinette, surprising her a bit. She then smiled at him and scooted closer as well, resting her head on his shoulder. "Umm, Adrien?" she softly said.

"Mmm?"

"I kissed Chat Noir last night!" she blurted out quietly. "I just… thought you should know."

Adrien looked at her with feigned anger and replied, "Well, princess, if he's stealing you away from me then I'm going to need to slay him."

She giggled but slapped his chest. "Be serious."

Adrien turned her face to his and smirked, "Well, we aren't dating yet so I guess you can explore your options."

Marinette blushed at his words and started to say, "Yet? What does that me-," Adrien held his finger against her lips and grinned mischievously. He moved her head to rest on his shoulder again. She sighed contentedly and wrapped her hand around his bicep. When the lesson was over, Adrien and Marinette walked to the next class together, like they normally did. This time, however, they were standing much closer and both had small smiles on their faces. Since they had different lessons, they parted ways, waving shyly at each other. Before Marinette could get to her class, though, she was pulled to the side by a long arm.

"What do you want with Adrien, Dupain-Cheng?" Chloe snarled.

"Excuse me?" Marinette asked, frowning.

"I said, what do you want with him!" she snapped. "If you're going to date Chat Noir, then tell Adrien right now. Don't toy around with his feelings. He doesn't deserve that after…" she trailed off but both girls knew what she was talking about. "I just… don't wanna see him get hurt again so please," Chloe pleaded. Marinette's frown softened and she nodded. "Good. That's all I needed," she started walking away but stopped to say teasingly, "By the way, I will be a bridesmaid at your wedding." Marinette grinned and followed her out.

At the end of the day, Marinette and Alya still hadn't talked. They refused to look at each other and Alya walked home without a word. Adrien and Nino exchanged worried glances and Nino ran after his girlfriend. Looking down at Marinette, Adrien began, "Are you-,"

"Alya will come around, Adrien. She always does." Adrien blinked and nodded, wrapping his arm around her waist. Marinette looked up at him and asked tentatively, "Do you … wanna come round and … watch movies or something?" Adrien's eyes widened and he didn't say anything. Taking his lack of response as rejection, she nervously rambled, "Or not! I know your life is really busy and it was dumb of me to ask! Just pretend I didn't say anything and we can forget this ever happ-,"

He cut her off with a finger to her lips and said softly with a small smile, "I'd love to." Marinette blinked and smiled back, putting her arm around his waist. Adrien slung his arm over her shoulder and they started walking to her house.

When they got there, Sabine and Tom were working in the shop. At the sound of the bell, they were surprised to see Marinette and Adrien, their arms around each other. "Well, well, well," Sabine began with a grin. "What have we here?"

Marinette blushed and replied, "Ummm, Maman, Papa, meet Adrien. You've probably heard of him…"

Adrien walked over and put his hand out to Tom with a nervous smile. Tom eyed him up and down for a few seconds before pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. He released him after half a minute and put his hand on Adrien's shoulder. "Welcome to the family, son," he smiled with a teary voice.

Sabine slapped his hand away and chided, "Tom! Control yourself! Don't act like they're engaged!" She then hugged Adrien as well and said, "We'll leave you two to go have fun. But not too much fun!"

"Mama!" Marinette groaned and grabbed Adrien's hand, pulling him upstairs. In her room, she flopped on her chaise. "Sorry about my parents. They can be so embarrassing sometimes."

"I think it's really cool to have parents who at least care about you and allow you to do things." Marinette looked up at his melancholy voice. She pulled him to sit next to her and grabbed his face in her small hands.

"Hey. You're practically part of the family already. And I care about you, ok?" Adrien smiled and nodded.

"Ok."

"Okay! So choose your poison! I only really have Disney princess movies, is that ok?"

"It's perfect. What've you got, princess?"

"Princess and The Frog, Tangled, Sleeping Beauty, Big Hero 6 and Frozen."

"Can we do two?"

"Sure. Which ones?"

"Big Hero 6 and Tangled, please. I haven't watched Big Hero 6 yet."

Marinette turned to face him and asked curiously, "Has the Adrien 'model-millionaire' Agreste not watched every single movie ever to exist at least 5 times?"

He chuckled and replied, "No, actually. I rarely got to watch movies as a child and when I did, they were Disney princess ones, courtesy of Chloe."

"Ok, then. I'll go down and get some snacks." When she left the room, Adrien opened his bag and allowed Plagg to fly out.

"You can probably hide in her cupboard or something. Just don't come out," Adrien whispered. "Here, take this Camembert."

Plagg's eyes lit up and he greedily grabbed the cheese wheel and phased through the cupboard, where he knew Tikki would be, just as Marinette walked through the door. Her arms were laden with cookies, bags of popcorn, ice cream and bottles of water. "Woah, princess. Are you planning on putting me out of my job?" Adrien teased.

"You need more fat on your body!" she retorted while putting the snacks down and sliding the 'Big Hero 6' CD in. "Give the rest of the male population a chance." Adrien chuckled and patted the place next to him. Marinette sat next to him, resting her head on his shoulder while his arm sling around her waist. Picking up the remote, she asked playfully, "Are you ready, hot stuff?"

"As I'll ever be."

They watched in amiable silence for a while, only commenting on funny parts and sharing the snacks between them. When Hiro watched the old clips of Tadashi stored on Baymax, Marinette heard sniffling from above her. She looked up worryingly at him and asked, "Are you ok, Adrien?"

He rubbed his eyes and nodded, softly replying, "I'm fine. I just kinda wish I had something like this when my mum disappeared. My father kept all the memories of her to himself." He whispered the last part bitterly and Marinette wished for the thousandth time that Gabriel Agreste was still in France so she could get her hands on him. He was quite possibly the worst father anyone could ever have. Shaking away her angry thoughts, she reached up to swipe Adrien's tears away and smiled at him compassionately. He smiled back at her and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you, Mari." He once again thanked the stars that he was lucky enough to meet this incredible woman. How was she able to make him feel better without even saying anything? How was she able to make him feel so at home and loved like no one ever had? She was the most magnificent woman he had ever met and he knew she always would be. He pulled away and grinned at the pinkish blush dusting her cheeks. _"She looks so pretty like that."_ Tugging her into his side and tightening his hold on her, he focused his attention back on the movie.

By the time it was finished, both teens' tummies were rumbling loudly. They grinned at each other and Marinette offered, "Do you wanna go downstairs and eat something? My parents have probably cooked enough food to feed the whole city."

"Ok, princess. Lead the way," he replied and dramatically bowed. Marinette giggled and grabbed his hand, pulling him off the chaise and through the trapdoor.

On their way downstairs, Marinette thought amusedly, _"It's kinda weird - before this, I could barely talk to Adrien. Now I'm inviting him to my house and holding his hand."_ She looked down at their joined hands and blushed happily. _"I guess I have Chat to thank. Without his help, I'd probably still be frothing at the mouth whenever I see Adrien."_ At the thought of the superhero, Marinette remembered her conflicted feelings for him and hastily dropped Adrien's hand. Adrien looked at her in worry but she refused to meet his eyes. Embarrassed, he rubbed his neck and turned away.

_"Maybe I'm reading too much into things - as always. Marinette's probably gotten tired of waiting for me," _he thought sadly. _"Why is it that everything I touch becomes destroyed?"_ When they got downstairs, a heavenly scent wafted into Adrien's nose and he felt his mouth begin to water. Sabine popped her head out of the kitchen and grinned at the two teens.

"I knew you'd get hungry eventually! I've made dumplings, chicken chow mien, sweet and sour pork and custard buns if that's ok."

"It's perfect," Adrien affirmed with a smile. They walked into the dining room where Tom was already seated and pots of steaming food lay on the table. When Adrien opened his mouth in awe, Marinette giggled and closed it softly.

"Come on model-boy. Time for you to eat some proper food instead of all that fancy stuff," she teased. Adrien fake-pouted but allowed her to drag him to his seat. Sabine smiled at both of them and proceeded to serve them with a lot of food. They ate dinner and joked around as if it was normal for them. Adrien felt extremely at home and wished he could experience a dinner like this every day.

When they had finished, it was nearly 19:30. Marinette scratched under his chin, like he was a cat, and murmured, "It's getting pretty late, model boy. You might wanna go home before people send out a search party for you." She stood up and announced, "I'll go get your stuff, Adrien. And Maman? Don't say anything embarrassing." Sabine laughed and shooed her daughter upstairs. When Marinette went back downstairs, Adrien was alone in the room, his face turned down towards his phone. At the sound of her footsteps, his blonde head raised up and and smiled at her. As she grinned back, her chest filled with warmth and she felt the butterflies in her tummy go mad. She handed his coat to him, and while Marinette was facing away from him, Adrien put it on and opened it for Plagg to zoom in. "Maybe we can watch Rapunzel next time," she suggested. When Adrien said nothing she hastily stuttered, "O-only if you w-want to!"

He smiled and said softly, "I'd love to." They went downstairs, and Adrien said goodbye to Tom and Sabine.

As he walked away, he could faintly hear, "He's such a sweet boy! Marinette had better keep him." Smiling to himself, he opened the door for Marinette to go out and they stopped under the sign.

"Thanks for coming round, Adrien. I had fun!" Marinette earnestly said.

"Thanks for inviting me. I had fun too," he replied. Adrien rubbed his neck nervously and stepped closer. _"Come on, Agreste! You can do this!" _"Uhhh, do you…. uhhh…," he nervously mumbled. "Maybe….. doyouwannagooutwithme?" he blurted it out very quickly but Marinette heard.

Her eyes widened to proportions she didn't think were possible. Her mind went on lockdown and she just blinked. She heard a voice say "Yes." Then she realised it was her own. Adrien had a gigantic grin on his face and Marinette felt her own lips stretching out. They blushed and looked away bashfully. "Maybe on Saturday?"

"That's great. See you then?" Adrien said. Marinette didn't reply. She only blushed harder and leaned in to place a kiss on his cheek. It only lasted a few seconds but both Adrien and Marinette were blushing a lot. "Bye, princess!" Adrien grinned happily and began to walk back to his house. Marinette grinned as well and rushed back into her house, ignoring her parents, who were watching intently at the window. She could faintly hear her mother squeal "Green-eyed grand-babies!" but she took no notice. When she got upstairs, she ran up her stairs, into her bed and screamed into her pillow.

Tikki flew cautiously out of the cupboard and asked, "Marinette? Are you ok?"

"ADRIEN JUST ASKED ME OUT!" she yelled elatedly. "THIS IS THE GREATEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"

* * *

The scent is getting stronger... ಠ_ಠ


	9. A Problem

Omg y'all are too sweet for still reading this. I know I'm a bitch for uploading so late (again) but I'll try to ge better. Please bear with my endless stupidity. The chapter after this may be late as I'm still failing at writing natural angst (I don't even know if it counts as angst anymore) but I promise I'll try to write faster :p

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Marinette was over the moon. She had always dreamed of Adrien asking her out but her dreams didn't hold a candle to the real thing. For the majority of the weekend, she had lay in her bed with a dreamy smile on her face. When her parents asked her to come down and help out, she nearly burned 2 batches of cookies because she was busy daydreaming. Even Tikki was starting to get tired of her exclaiming, 'Can you believe he actually asked me out?' On Sunday evening, Tikki suggested wearily, "Isn't there anyone else you can tell?"

Marinette bounces up and said excitedly, "Yes! I haven't even told Aly-" she abruptly stopped and her smile vanished from her face. They still hadn't made up and Marinette was starting to miss her. She made a mental note to talk to her BFF at school and mend things.

Monday arrived and Marinette made sure to get to school a bit earlier than usual, not really bothering with what she was wearing. When she walked into the locker room, she found Alya silently getting her things together. At the sound of the door opening, the brunette looked up but when she saw who it was she hastily closed her locker and made to leave. "No." Alya looked at Marinette, astonished at the seriousness of her tone. Her small hand reached out to pull Alya down onto the bench and she continued, "We are talking about this. Right now." Alya looked away reluctantly and crossed her arms over her elbows.

"What is there to say? You clearly seem to want to be Chloe's BFF now," Alya mumbled and the hurt in her voice was evident.

Marinette stared incredulously at her and replied, "Why would you think that? Alya, you've been my best friend for 4 years and I want it to stay that way! We need to work this out."

"I didn't mean that." She sighed and raked a hand through her hair. Alya's eyes slowly drifted back to Marinette's and she blinked before bursting out, "I'm sorry." Marinette was taken aback - she thought it would take much longer for Alya to apologise. "For everything. For accusing Chat Noir of being a flirt, for not hearing you out that night and for babbling everything to Adrien and Nino. I just… don't wanna see you get hurt, ok? After all those years of Adrien friend-zoning you, I wouldn't be able to take it if you got your heart broken again." Both their eyes began to water and Alya grabbed Marinette's hands, tearfully pleading, "Just… please forgive me."

Marinette pulled her into a tight hug and mumbled into her shoulder, "I already have." Alya's arms wrapped around Marinette's back and they sat in a tight embrace for a few minutes. When they eventually broke apart, Marinette grinned and said, "Now that that's sorted out, I have something to tell you."

Upstairs, in their classroom, Adrien was talking to Nino about an anime he had watched when someone screamed, 'WHAAAAAAAT!' Adrien chuckled and muttered, "That's probably Alya after finding out I asked Marinette out."

Nino went bug-eyed and asked, "Duuuude, for real?" Adrien nodded and Nino clapped him on the back. "Congratulations, bro!" Then his voice turned serious. "But, dude. If you hurt her, I will end you." It made sense that Nino was protective of Marinette - they had known each other since l'école primaire. Secretly, Adrien thought it was pretty hypocritical since Nino was so quick to believe Lila over Marinette that time but he decided not to comment on it. Adrien nodded and Nino's smile appeared again. "Good. So, what's the plan?" Before Adrien could elaborate, Alya burst into the classroom, Marinette following slightly behind her.

"ADRIEN AGRESTE!" Her eyes locked onto his and she began marching purposefully towards him.

"Uh, yes, A-Alya?" he nervously replied. "That girl is terrifying."

"How dare you plan you asking Marinette out without me! ME! HER BEST FRIEND!" Marinette rolled her eyes and held Alya's shoulder. She shot an apologetic look at Adrien and steered the fuming girl to her seat.

"Hey, how about I sit next to the evil brunette," Nino joked nervously. When Alya's furious eyes snapped to his, he paled and put his hands up. "Sorry, sorry." Alya opened her mouth to retort back but before she could, Nino pressed his lips to her. It became pretty passionate quite quickly and both Marinette and Adrien blushed and averted their eyes. They knew how intense Alya and Nino's PDA could be but still. They eventually broke away and Alya was rendered breathless, not being able to shout at Nino. The DJ smirked at Marinette and shooed her away from her usual seat, prompting her to sit next to Adrien again. "Go on dudette. Go sit with hot stuff. No homo though." Marinette smirked back and went to sit down.

For the rest of the week, Marinette sat next to Adrien, joking around and whispering to each other during lessons. Thursday came and both teens were excited at the prospect of their date the next day. Marinette slid into her new place and smiled at Adrien. Again, they were pressed closely against each other and Adrien's hand rested on her shoulders. "So, princess, did anything special happen over the weekend? You seem to have had a permanent dopey grin on your face for the past week," Adrien teased with a small smile when they got the work.

Marinette grinned, still facing the worksheet, and replied, "Oh no, I was just asked out by the hottest and most perfect boy. Nothing much, you know." Then her mind caught up to what her mouth was saying and she immediately blushed and turned to face Adrien's red face. "U-uh what I ignore said just- NO I m-mea-" She was cut off by a finger on her lips.

Adrien leaned in and whispered softly, "Over the weekend, I landed a date with the most incredible girl in the world."

Marinette's blush grew stronger and she timidly replied, "You don't mean that."

"I do. You're **my** princess and I intend to keep it that way."

Marinette smiled softly and thought, _"He's so possessive but it's kinda endearing. It's almost like-,"_

She was once again reminded of her feelings for Chat Noir. Her face fell and she pulled away from Adrien's reach. Adrien's grin disappeared and hurt crossed over his face. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Alya looking curiously at him. "What happened?" she mouthed. Adrien shrugged noncommittally and turned to finish his work.

The day passed and Marinette said nothing else to Adrien, leaving him confused and gloomy. At the end of the day, when Alya asked what was wrong, she just shrugged and walked silently back to her house. Adrien watched her leave despondently and trudged to his car. When he got home, he threw his bag onto a couch and sank into his bed. "Hey!" Plagg grunted and flew out of the bag. When Adrien didn't reply, the black kwami muttered, "I still exist! Don't neglect me because your girlfriend is moody."

"She's not my girlfriend, Plagg!" Adrien yelled, irritated, and stood up. "I just-," he sighed and sank back onto his bed. "I don't understand, Plagg. Sometimes, when we're joking around like we usually do, she just pulls away and acts like she's indifferent. Do you think it's me?"

Plagg flew silently to his shoulder and rubbed his head comfortingly. "She probably just has some things to work out."

Adrien nodded dejectedly. He grabbed his phone and opened Snapchat. Marinette was at the top of his best friend list, obviously named as Purrincess and he clicked her bitmoji. He hesitantly began to type a message.

Meanwhile, not so far away, Marinette was venting to Tikki. "I just think that Adrien deserves someone who loves only him. So does Chat," she explained frustratedly.

"But Marinette, you should at least try things out with Adrien," Tikki reasoned. "Ignoring him is only going to leave him confused and feeling guilty." Marinette groaned and nodded reluctantly. She grabbed her phone and saw that she had a new message on Snapchat. When she saw the sender, her eyes went wide.

"It's Adrien!" she hissed, dropping the phone and jumping back as if it had burned her. "What should I do?" she frantically asked Tikki. The mini-goddess rolled her eyes and picked up the phone. Without warning, she threw the phone at Marinette's face. "Oww!" Marinette yelled one pain and looked at Tikki in indignation. "What was that for?" Tikki scoffed, pointed to the phone and rolled her eyes again. Shooting her kwami one more annoyed look, Marinette took a deep breath and clicked on the message.

'Hi Mari'

'Hi Adrien'

'What happened today? Did I make u feel uncomfortable?'

She looked up at Tikki and saw the mini-goddess smirk and say, "Told you so." Marinette pouted and typed back,

**"No'**

**'I just had some things to work out**

'It's ok if u don't wanna go out tmrw'

Marinette panicked at his words and hastily replied.

**'no I still wanna go'**

'dw it's fine if u don't

**'I want to go'**

'If u say so'

'can I pick u up at 6:00'

**'that works for me'**

'kl'

'see u tomorrow :p'

He went offline and Marinette was left feeling dissatisfied with their conversation. "Are you excited for your date tomorrow?" Tikki asked. Marinette didn't reply, only opening Alya's contact and calling her. It rang 4 times before Alya picked up.

"Hey, girl. What's up?"

"Umm, can you sleep over? I kinda need a girl talk," Marinette sheepishly chuckled.

"Sure! I'll be there in a few. Ciao!" Alya cut the phone and Marinette waited on her bed. 5 minutes later, Alya popped her head out of her trapdoor. "Your parents let me through." She climbed up, dropped her overnight bag on the spinny chair and sat next to Marinette on her chaise. "So, what's up girl?"

Marinette sighed and started, "Well, you know how it kinda got weird with Adrien at school today?"

Alya nodded and replied, "Yeah… I was gonna ask you what that was about. I thought you were basically dating?"

Sighing again, Marinette shook her head. "I'm kinda torn between my feelings for Adrien and… Chat Noir."

Alya gasped and her eyes widened. "Mari!" she hissed. "Since how long?"

Marinette blushed and sheepishly murmured, "Since he started helping me get together with Adrien."

"Ughhh, Marinette, Marinette, Marinette!" Alya groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head in disbelief. "Girl, you've basically dug your own grave. Catching feelings for the man who's trying to get you together with your long-time crush?"

Marinette dropped her face into her hands and whined, "I know, I know!" She slowly peeled at her best friends through her fingers. "What should I do?"

Alya turned to face Marinette and held her shoulders. "Do you still love Adrien?"

Startled, Marinette replied surely, "Yes, of course."

"Has Chat Noir asked you out?"

"N-no…"

"OK." Alya let go and punched her fist into her other hand and stated with a determined look in her eyes, "Now that I know the situation, here's what you're gonna do. Step 1. Go on the date with Adrien and explain the situation to him. He probably won't be ecstatic to hear that you're falling in love with one of Paris' hottest males but you need to be honest with him. You with me so far?" Marinette nodded and Alya continued. "Step 2. If Chat Noir pops in on Fridays like you said he does, ask him out. Make sure he knows you're still in love with Adrien but that you're also investigating your feelings for him. And finally, Step 3." Alya sighed and turned to face Marinette. Holding her hands tightly, she said seriously, "Try not to break either of their hearts. And don't allow them or yourself to break yours either. If things are getting too much, tell them. I'm sure they'll both understand. OK, girl?"

Marinette nodded solemnly and Alya's serious face vanished, leaving behind her usual grin. "Ok! Now that that's sorted out, let's go and feast on some good ol' Dupain-Cheng dinner!" Marinette laughed at her best friend's addiction with anything her parents made and allowed Alya to pull her off the chaise. "Marinette?" Alya suddenly chimed.

"Yeah?"

"Everything's gonna be fine, ok? I'm sure it'll work out," Alya reassured. Marinette nodded but deep down, she had a sinking feeling that her Ladybug luck wouldn't save her this time.


	10. A Date

New chapter, chicas! I was actually on time today! (yay!) I hope you enjoy this one, it took me a while to write but I got there eventually! Thank you for all the sweet comments, they make me smile so much! Some of you have wondered how Adrien will react to Mari's feeling but there is going to be a twist so be prepared! Thanks for reading!

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The next morning, the girls woke up at around 11, having stayed up late painting each other's nails and reading loads of Harry Potter crack-fics. Deciding to take quick showers before brunch, they were upstairs for another 45 minutes. By the time they had gone downstairs to eat, Sabine and Tom were working in the bakery. Marinette whipped up some pancakes while they talked about whatever came to their minds. After brunch, they went back to Marinette's room and watched teen rom-coms on Alya's Netflix. Time flew by and before the girls knew it, it was 14:00.

Marinette was dreading what Alya would do to prepare her for her date. Her fears were confirmed when Alya asked, "Marinette, where is your coffee? And your cocoa? And honey and cucumbers?"

Reluctantly, she told the brunette where they were and warned her, "Don't do anything too drastic Alya. Meet me upstairs when you finish making your potion." About 5 minutes later, Alya popped out of Marinette's hatch, arms laden with all the foods she had requested.

"Ok! We're gonna make a rejuvenating face mask to smoothen your porous skin - no offence or anything." Marinette rolled her eyes and gestured for Alya to continue. "It may seem kinda cliché but were also going to put cucumbers on our eyes."

"Kinda cliche? That's probably the most cliché thing you could do!"

"Whatever! Do you want your face to be radiant or not?" Marinette rolled her eyes but complied, allowing Alya to work her magic. The sensation of the coffee-honey-cocoa face mask wasn't entirely unpleasant and the cooling of the cucumbers felt quite nice. She never really got the chance to pamper herself, even as the akumas started running out. It honestly felt nice to be taken care of. Ten minutes later, Alya wiped off the face mask and asked excitedly, "Ok, how do you feel? Nauseous? Faint? Is your face burning up? Do you feel like your insides are about to spontaneously combust?"

"What did you put on my face?" Marinette exclaimed, an alarmed look on her face.

"Oh, nothing. There just may have been some… unideal side-effects. If you're feeling fine, then it's cool. Do you know where you're going?"

Marinette thought for a second and replied, "No, he didn't mention it. I guess he wants to surprise me."

"I think your best bet is semi-formal. What've you got to wear?" Marinette got up and pulled out her favourite jeans and comfy sweater from her closet.

"How about this?"

"Marinette, Marinette, you clueless lemon," Alya groaned. "This is a full on 'Netflix-bingeing' outfit! Aren't you supposed to be the fashionable one here?"

"I know, I know. I haven't been on a date since I was with Luka so I guess I've kinda lost my touch," she mumbled back.

"Ok, leave the clothes choosing to me." Alya spent close to 10 minutes throwing clothes out from Marinette's closet, making two piles: 'are you utterly insane?' and 'why have I never seen this gorgeous piece of art?' When she was done rejecting the majority of the clothes, Alya dug through her good pile and began matching tops and skirts and trousers. In the end, Marinette had 3 choices: a white jumper with confetti sprinkles and blue jeans; a red half-sleeved dress or a white striped long-sleeved shirt and a black skirt.

"Umm, I'll go with the dress, I think," she nervously decided.

"You think?" Alya asked incredulously. "Marinette, you have to be feeling it completely! Do you want it or not?""

"I want it. For sure." Marinette nodded surely.

"Ok! Since you're wearing a dress, you can either wear tights or go bare-legged, which also comes with shaving."

"No, no, no, no. No shaving." Memories of the first time she shaved flowed back and she shuddered in disgust. "Can you just help me get ready, Alya? You're so much better at dates than I am."

"Ok, girl, if you say so."

If she was being honest, Marinette thought that it would take an hour and a half, two hours tops, for Alya to prepare her for the date. But by the time she had waxed her arms, plucked her eyebrows, done her hair, done her makeup and finished up her outfit, it was nearly 17:45. "Ok girl, it's time to get into the dating zone." Alya pulled Marinette down onto her chaise and looked seriously into her eyes. "I know that you've basically gotten control of your word vomit around Adrien but a date might bring that back. I want you to practice what you're going to say."

Marinette lifted an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Could you be any more cliche at this point?"

Choosing to disregard her comment, Alya continued, "I'll be Adrien and you be Marinette." Marinette opened her mouth to comment again but Alya stopped her with a hand. "No complaints. Ok, let's begin! Hi, Marinette. You look pretty."

Stifling a laugh, Marinette replied, "Thank you, Adrien. You don't look too bad yourself." _"Maybe this date won't be so bad after all."_

Downstairs, Adrien was outside the bakery, preparing himself for the date. He had tried to sound cool and calm when they texted but in reality, his hands were shaking. Literally. It wasn't helping that Plagg was cackling over his shoulder while he was typing. "_Come on Agreste. You can do this. Just, be yourself. She seems to like me, right?"_ Taking a deep breath and hoping for luck, pushed the bakery door open. The little bell rang and Tom and Sabine, who were clearing up for the day, turned their heads to see who had entered. Steeling his nerves, Adrien smiled sheepishly and murmured, "Hi. I'm here for Marinette."

"Adrien!" Sabine exclaimed, striding over to him with her arms wide. "It's so good to see you again." She enveloped him in a tight hug, almost lifting him up the ground. It really was unbelievable how strong the Cheng women could be.

"Good to see you too, Mrs Cheng."

"Oh, please call me Sabine. You make it sound like I'm my mother." Her face wrinkled in disgust and Adrien chuckled. Tom made his way over and shook hands with Adrien.

"Good luck, my boy. I'm sure everything will go well." He smiled warmly and Adrien was thankful that there wasn't a 'hurt her and you'll die' speech.

Sabine offered, "Let me call Marinette down for you. MARINETTE!" Adrien was shocked by the sheer volume of her voice. "ADRIEN'S HERE, HONEY! COME DOWN."

"GOD, MAMAN! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO SCREAM SO MUCH!" Adrien smiled fondly at her annoyed voice.

Rolling his eyes, Tom muttered, "You see what I have to live with, now?" Marinette's feet could be heard coming down the stairs and when she opened the door, Adrien felt his breath hitch.

_"Woah…"_

Her long, curly hair cascaded down her shoulders in waves, tumbling over her collarbone. A small red rose was tucked just above her ear. The red dress perfectly accentuated her body and her black lace-up knee-high boots completed the look. Dark red lipstick covered her lips and her already long lashes were made to look even more beautiful with mascara. She smiled nervously at him and waved. "Hi, Adrien."

"Hey, Mari. You look… gorgeous," he murmured in awe. Marinette blushed at his compliment.

"Th-thanks. You look g-gorgeous too… I MEAN-,"

Behind her, Alya muttered wearily, "All my work, gone right out the window."

Sabine giggled at the teenagers and announced, "Ok, let's allow the lovebirds to go. And remember, have fun, but not too much fun!" Marinette rolled her eyes at her mum and walked over to Adrien.

"Are you ready?" he asked tentatively. She nodded happily and Adrien's nervousness all melted away. As long as he was with this girl, he was sure things would be fine. He opened the door, ushered her out and was going to follow her when Tom stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Confused, Adrien turned around. Tom pressed a box into Adrien's hand and winked. Remembering what it was for, Adrien grinned back and followed Marinette to his car. Like a perfect gentleman, he opened the passenger door for her and bowed dramatically. Marinette giggled at his antics and sat down, waiting for Adrien to get into his seat. He started the car and they drove off.

About 5 minutes into the drive Marinette asked, "So, where are you taking me to, brave knight?"

"Oh, you'll see, princess. You'll see…"

By the end of the date, Marinette was happier than she'd ever been. Adrien had taken them to an outdoor movie theatre and had even brought a picnic basket full of snacks. The movie that was showing was Mary Poppins and Marinette was sure it was an amazing movie but she didn't really know : she and Adrien had spent most of the time making fun of the English accents. At one point he brought out a small box. "Are you already proposing, Adrien?" she had teased.

"Oh, no. It'll be much more romantic than this," he had grinned back. Opening the box to reveal its contents, he continued, "I know that you love chocolate and that chocolate chip cookies are your favourite so I asked your parents to help me make a dessert that combined both!" Marinette had looked into the box and gasped in delight when she saw a small pile of chocolate chip cookie dough truffles.

"Oh, Adrien, you shouldn't have…" She picked the truffle on top, took a small bite and moaned. Adrien's face turned red at the suggestiveness of her tone but Marinette didn't notice. She groaned, with her mouth full, "But I'm so glad you did! Mmmmm, these are sooo gooood!"

Adrien chuckled and said, "It seems like you like them a lot. Can I try one?"

Marinette nodded and picked up another truffle. She brought it close to his mouth but right when his teeth were about to close on it, she pulled it away. The look of pure indignation on his face was so cute that Marinette couldn't help but burst out laughing. She teased him with the chocolate again and he protested in surprise, "Princess! Why won't you let me eat it?"

"Ask nicely, kitty."

The nickname slipped out because Marinette felt like she was bantering with Chat. Neither of them commented on it.

Adrien sighed and muttered, "Fine." He looked up at her with pleading eyes and murmured, "Pleeeeeease?" Marinette giggled and nodded softly. His eyes danced with happiness and he opened his mouth expectantly. She placed the truffle on his tongue and he snapped his mouth shut the second her hand left it. His eyes widened when he began to chew and he groaned in delight. Marinette was also affected by the sound of her love interest making those…noises. "Your family really does have the best bakery in all of France!" The familiarity of his words made her wonder where she'd heard them before. Of course, people were always complimenting her on her parent's bakery but those words reminded her of a specific time. "They make the sweetest snacks but," he paused briefly to smirk at her and tease, "You're clearly the sweetest snack your parents have ever made."

She blushed furiously and realised again that those words were strangely familiar. "Stop with the compliments!" she protested and smacked his arm. He grinned playfully and pulled her up to stand.

Now, it was nearly 20:30 and they were on the drive back home, flirting and joking about like they always did. When they arrived at the bakery, Adrien was overjoyed. He'd never had so much fun with one person since before Hawkmoth was defeated. Pulling Marinette to the front of the door, he murmured, "I had fun today, Mari."

A light blush dusted her cheekbones and she replied quietly, "Me, too, Adrien." They were standing far too close for it to be normal. Adrien's hands drifted towards her waist and Marinette's hands slid up to his neck. They simultaneously leaned in and their lips were about to meet when Marinette felt a deep scar at the nape of his neck and all she could think was Chat, Chat, CHAT!

She broke away from Adrien's grasp and pressed her palms onto her eyes. When she looked up, there was a hurt look on Adrien's face and he nervously began, "We don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with-,"

"No, no i-it's not that! It's just…"

_"Step 1. Go on the date with Adrien and explain the situation to him. He probably won't be ecstatic to hear that you're falling in love with one of Paris' hottest males but you need to be honest with him."_

Alya's voice rang out in her head but she just couldn't bring herself to say the words. "I-" she choked back her tears as Adrien's look of rejection morphed into a worried one. He reached out to hug her but she stepped back, not trusting herself to be in his embrace. "I just can't be with you. I'm sorry." She sobbed out the last words and ran inside, leaving Adrien on the doorstep, wondering, _"What did I do wrong?"_

Her parents were watching TV in the living room and when she burst in, they looked at her hopefully. "So?" Sabine began but when she took in the tears rolling down her daughter's face, she rushed over to her. "Oh, honey, what's wrong?" She tried to pull Marinette into a hug but the crying bluenette pulled away and ran up to her bedroom. Sabine sighed and walked back to her husband, both wondering, _"Why had it gone so wrong when the two seemed so good for each other?"_

When Marinette got upstairs, she threw her bag onto her table rushed up the stairs to her bed and pulled her old giant cat pillow from underneath it. Tikki cautiously flew up and murmured, "Marinette, are you ok?" She took no notice and flopped onto her bed, sobbing woefully into her giant cat, not caring that the makeup was smearing all over it. She cried for the relationship she never had and wondered, _"Why do I have so much bad luck when I'm meant to be Ladybug? Why do none of my relationships work out? Why on earth did I fall for two different boys?"_

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Please don't be mad at me, I promise it gets better!


	11. A Heartbreak

Hello again chicas! I have officially finished writing Late Nights Chats! Thank you for all the lovely comments again. I hope you like this chapter because it's definitely less angsty than the other one! *sneaky face* hehehehe

Enjoy!

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Marinette spent the weekend in her bed. Her calls were left unanswered, her homework was left unfinished and her mind was left undone. She cried endlessly and when she wasn't crying, she was sleeping but even then, she was haunted by her feelings. Her dreams were full of blonde-haired green-eyed boys, sometimes Adrien morphing into Chat and vice versa, sometimes, Adrien asking, 'Why can't you love me and only me?' and sometimes Chat smirking at her and whispering, 'You'll figure it out, princess.' She would wake up confused and even more distraught.

Her mum worried for her health because Marinette was losing a lot of fluid but wasn't eating or drinking anything. Whenever Sabine knocked on the door to put food on her desk, she would find food from earlier lying untouched. On Sunday evening, Sabine dragged Marinette out of bed and forced her to have a shower. "You need to stay positive, honey!" she had said. "This may feel like it's the end of the world but things will get better." Marinette didn't reply.

Monday morning arrived and Marinette begged her mum to let her stay home. Sabine had reluctantly conceded, but only on the condition that she went in on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, at school, Adrien had never felt worse. He had called Marinette on Saturday and texted her but after she didn't reply, he left her alone. During classes, he looked straight ahead, not absorbing anything the teachers said. At break time, Alya and Nino walked up to him. "So, Adrien," Alya began. "How did the date go?"

Adrien ran his hand through his hair for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day and sighed heavily, replying, "She said she can't be with me."

"Did she say why?" Alya pressed on.

"No. We were about to…" he trailed off, embarrassed. "But she just pulled away and said she was sorry."

Alya sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, murmuring to herself, "Oh, what am I going to do with that girl?" Adrien picked up his bag and waved goodbye to the couple, wishing the day was over already.

Tuesday crept up on Marinette and she wished she hadn't promised her mum that she would go in. She threw on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. When she was choosing her clothes, she came across Adrien's hoodie and she felt fresh tears well up in her eyes. She ended up being late to school because she spent 10 minutes crying into the hoodie. Thankfully, neither Sabine nor Tom commented on her tardiness and only wished her a good day.

Marinette burst into the classroom, murmuring apologies to the teacher and hurrying to her seat. She refused to meet eyes with anyone and Adrien felt his heart wither up painfully in his chest. The sight of her tear-streaked face and swollen eyes made a fresh wave of self-hatred crash over him. _"How can I want to be with her when I hurt her so much?"_ Alya prodded Marinette in the arm and gestured to Adrien, mouthing 'what happened?' As more tears threatened to spill over, Marinette just shook her head and looked back to the teacher. At the end of the lesson, she rushed out, not giving anyone the chance to ask her anything. Adrien sighed again and trudged out of the classroom. Before he could go to the locker room, however, he felt an arm tug him urgently to the side. He was about to protest when he saw it was Chloe. "What's up, Chloe?" he asked wearily.

"I'm assuming from the look on both your faces that the date with Marinette ended badly," Chloe assumed with a bored look on her face.

"Uh, yeah."

Suddenly, her expression turned murderous. "That bitch! I told her not to mess with your heart!" she growled. Adrien was shocked at how protective she was. Chloe grabbed his shoulders and continued, "Don't worry Adrien. I'm going to give that heartless evil psycho-bitch a piece of my mind."

"No, please don't do that Chloe," Adrien pleaded. "It'll just make things worse."

"But she hurt you! No one hurts you after what that asshole put you through. I just," Chloe pulled him down for a hug and whispered tearfully, "I just don't like seeing you hurt. You're meant to be the sun that's always shining in my life. It kills me to see you like this again." Adrien wrapped his arms around Chloe's back and remembered how much he had to be there for her when her mother had left and her father was busy. Most people probably thought Adrien didn't like Chloe but in reality, they had an unbreakable bond between them.

"I promise, I'll be fine, Chlo," he reassured her. _"I'm just not sure when."_

The blonde pulled away and smiled sadly at her best friend. "I just wish it could've worked out. You were so good for each other." The pain in Adrien's chest grew and grew but he schooled his face to convey no emotions. When Chloe left, he made his way to the locker room. When he opened his locker, he was surprised to see his hoodie that he gave to Marinette laying on top of his books. There was a slightly damp patch on the back and a small piece of paper rested on it. Adrien opened it and saw, in Madinette's handwriting 'sorry'. He felt his heart thump painfully in his chest and slammed the locker shut, willing the heartbreak away.

_"It will get better, it will get better."_

At the end of the day, Marinette was out of class before the teacher had even dismissed them. Alya gave Adrien a sympathetic hug and Nino patted him on the back. At least they weren't isolating him like the best friend would do in all those teen flicks.

The rest of the week passed and things got progressively worse. The word spread that Marinette had broken up with Adrien for no reason and girls from younger years would whisper 'heartbreaker' and 'gold digger' whenever she walked past. Alya and Nino would always scare the girls away but Adrien felt like he couldn't do anything. They hadn't talked or texted since the date so Adrien didn't know where he stood. Was he her friend? Was he her ex? Even Alya refused to tell him anything, saying she had no idea. Adrien didn't believe her for one second.

At the end of the last lesson on Thursday, Ms Bustier announced, "Ok, class, Marinette has an announcement to make about the cookie exchange you all are doing tomorrow." Marinette slowly made her way to the front of the classroom, dreading having to speak in front of him. She had spent most of her nights crying into her giant cat and she just wished it could all be over.

"OK guys," she began shakily. Her eyes flickered over the class and landed briefly on Adrien. She looked away immediately, not trusting herself to keep her emotions in if she looked any longer. "Umm, just make sure you have your cookies ready by tomorrow morning so that you can switch with your… partner." She trailed off as her eyes found their way to Adrien's again and they stared deeply into each other's eyes. It felt like years were passing when in reality, it was only a few seconds. A few traitorous tears threatened to spill over her eyes. Adrien looked hopeful and opened his mouth to say something, which broke the bubble. "Just remember your cookies!" she burst out and tore her eyes away.

Adrien's face fell and he dropped his head into the desk. Nino patted him sympathetically and whispered into his ear, "I'm sorry, dude. She'll come around. Look, tomorrow, I'll sit next to Alya so you have a chance to talk to her." Adrien didn't reply to what Nino said because there was only one thought running through his mind.

_"I'm going to see her tonight."_

Marinette had rushed home after her awkward announcement and tried to get her homework done. Truth be told, she was doing more crying than homework but her mum didn't need to know that. Sabine had already fussed over Marinette enough. It also didn't help that she was on her period so her emotions were already haywire. At around 18:00, she had given up on trying to do her physics and retreated to her chaise to watch sad movies while curled up with her giant cat. Tikki flew to her and said worriedly, "Marinette, you really need to get out. You can't stay in your bedroom forever!"

Marinette just humphed, rolled over and grumbled, "I can try." At 21:00, an almost silent thud suddenly sounded on her roof. Marinette shot up and thought, _"Please don't let it be who I think it is!"_ Nonetheless, her pleas amounted to nothing. She climbed up to her bed and saw a pair of bright green eyes shining through the hatch. Carefully wiping away her tears, she opened the hatch and placed a shaky smile on her face. "Chat! It's nice to see you!" She moved out of the way so that he could hop down onto her bed.

"Hi, princess." Chat also tried to smile but it looked more like a grimace. "A little birdie told me you haven't been feeling so good. Before I ate it, of course." Marinette smiled a little at his joke. Even when she felt like drowning in her tears, he could still bring a smile to her face.

"Since when do you talk to your food?"she joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Chat's half smile left his face and he growled, "I'm serious, Marinette. What's wrong?"

Marinette sighed and murmured, "Let's go downstairs, then I'll tell you." She pulled him down the stairs and onto the chaise and sat on her knees. "So, you may not know this but I went on a date with A-Adrien on Saturday," she began. "And it was a lot of fun. I really like him. Like, a lot. But at the end…" Her voice turned teary and one tear rolled down her face at the memory. "He was about to k-kiss me a-and I told him I c-couldn't be with him!" She was close to bursting into tears at this point.

"Why?" Chat asked desperately. "I mean, if you like him then why can't you be with him?"

_"Step 2. If Chat Noir pops in on Fridays like you said he does, ask him out. Make sure he knows you're still in love with Adrien but that you're also investigating your feelings for him." _

Again, Marinette could hear Alya's advice ringing in her ears but, like the first time, she just couldn't bring herself to say anything.

"I… I don't know!" She burst into tears and began sobbing into her hands. Chat's eyes widened and he immediately pulled Marinette into his arms, rubbing soothing circles into her back.

_"I pushed her too far,"_ he thought regretfully. _"I allowed my own insecurities and desire to get answers hurt my princess. What kind of boyfriend would I be?"_

They stayed like that for a while, Marinette sobbing into Chat's chest. A few times, she stopped to breathe and calmed down a little but the tears would come back again at how kind Chat could be and how much she had royally fucked up. Sabine poked her head through the trapdoor once and her eyes had widened at the sight of a superhero comforting her weeping daughter. Chat had nodded once, trying to convey that he had it under control. Sabine had nodded warily back and closed the door.

At around 21:30, Marinette's breathing became even and she slumped against Chat's muscular chest. Realising that she was asleep, Chat carefully lifted her into his lap and turned her body so he could carry her comfortably. He picked her up bridal-style and carefully took her up the stairs to her bed. Laying her down and pulling the cover over her body, Chat leant down to press a kiss to her forehead. He stood back up and smiled fondly at her sleeping face. _"My princess."_ Suddenly, he caught sight of a flickering light at the side of his eye. He turned his head to see where the flickering was coming from and was shocked to see the rose he had given Ladybug.

_"Impossible…"_

He picked it up to examine it more closely and found the exact same words as his gift.

'LB CN' with hearts on either side.

'Together Forever' on the bottom of the box.

'Unstoppable' underneath it.

They were identical. Chat placed the rose down carefully and silently found a pen, writing a note for Marinette so she wouldn't wonder where he went. He then exited the room, rushing back to his house so he could analyse his findings.

The second he landed in his rooms, he whispered, "Claws in." Plagg flew out of the ring and into the fridge, looking desperately for his cheese. Adrien began pacing stressfully in front of his couch. "Maybe… Marinette is keeping it for Ladybug while she is on holiday? No, because she told me we would meet tomorrow," he desperately rambled. "Maybe Marinette is taking inspiration from the rose for jewellery or something?"

Plagg flew in front of him and gave him an unimpressed look. "Really? What is the most basic answer?"

Adrien stopped pacing and looked at the tiny back kwami, his eyes wide and his heart doing somersaults in his chest.

"Marinette is Ladybug."

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AHHHHHHHHHHH

FINALLYYYYYY


	12. A Reveal

AHH ITS THE FINAL CHAPTER!! I know this isn't a very long story but I'm really happy that I actually managed to finish it in 3 months! I hope you guys like the way it finishes. There will be an epilogue for this story. Since the start of self-isolation, I've had a lot more time to write so while I may not do another multi-chapter story, I have a few one-shots that I can upload if you guys want. Thank you all for reading my crazy story and I hope you like the final chapter!

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_'Hi princess_

_You fell asleep so I put you in your bed_

_Hope you feel better now_

_See you tomorrow'_

The note Chat had left Marinette was fairly normal. Thoughtful, even. But what mattered was where he put it - on top of the rose.

The rose he had given Ladybug.

The same rose that was resting on Marintte's bedside table. And the last thing he had said was "See you tomorrow"

Tomorrow when they were supposed to reveal their identities to each other.

The second she saw it after waking up, she screamed, _"SHIT!"_

"LANGUAGE, HONEY!" Sabine's voice screamed back from downstairs.

Ignoring her mother's screeching, Marinette ran down her stairs and rushed into the bathroom. When she got there, she splashed her face with cold water and stared at her reflection.

"_Chat Noir knows I'm Ladybug."_

Tikki phased through the closed door and chided, "Marinette! I know your face is beautiful but you really need to get ready for school!"

"Tikki," Marinette began shakily. "Chat Noir knows I'm Ladybug!"

Tikki's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "Finally! One of you has stopped being oblivious!" Marinette's jaw dropped at her kwami's reaction. "Now I just have to see if you can figure out his identity before tonight," she huffed as she phased back through the door. Marinette stared, dumbstruck, at the place where Tikki was a moment ago. Suddenly, the tiny red bug floated back through and demanded, "You better not fuck this up, Mari! I've got a big bet with Plagg and I've already lost half of it! Stupid humans."

"Tikki! You swore!" Marinette yelled, disbelief written all over her face. Tikki threw her kwami equivalent of hands in the air and stormed out of the bathroom. Utterly flabbergasted by how her morning had started, Marinette stared at herself in the mirror and whispered, "He knows who I am. What the fuck am I going to do?"

Adrien had a plan. It was a very good plan and hopefully, it would work better than his other plan. He was going to drop hints that he was Chat Noir to Marinette during the day. It was crazy how much luck was on his side: he was Marinette's cookie exchange partner, he had almost every lesson with her today, Nino had offered to sit next to Alya for the whole day and **MARINETTE WAS LADYBUG!** Marinette being Ladybug was so unbelievably lucky that he almost wondered whether or not Plagg's powers were fading. Or maybe her luck had just rubbed off on him. Either way, Adrien was fairly convinced that by the end of the day, things between them would, at the very least, be marginally better.

As usual, Marinette rushed into the classroom 10 minutes late. "Sorry, Mlle Bustier," she huffed breathlessly.

"That's quite alright," the patient teacher replied. "Go sit down, you haven't missed much."

Marinette turned around as was about to walk to her normal seat but, upon finding Nino there, her eyes slowly drifted to Adrien. Her jaw went slack and he smiled nervously at her. She grimaced back and slowly made her way over to the seat. _"This is going to be fun…"_

As Mlle Bustier began the lesson, Adrien leaned over to whisper, "Sorry about this. If you're uncomfortable, I can ask Nino to sit where he normally does."

"No, no it's fine," she reassured him.

He shrugged and murmured, "If you say so, M'Lady."

Marinette froze, not believing what she had just heard. She warily turned her head to see whether or not Adrien had meant what he said. Strangely, he was just continuing on with the lesson. _"Maybe I'm just imagining things,"_ she thought. But as the day went on, Adrien acted more and more like Chat, calling her M'Lady, making puns and just overall being more… catty. At the end of the day, it all came to a head.

"Ok, class I want you to get in a circle and sit next to who you made cookies for so we can begin the cookie exchange!" Ms Bustier announced. It took a while but they got there eventually. Everyone had at least put some effort into their gift. The most shocking exchange, however, was between Chloe and Nathaniel. After giving him the snickerdoodle cookies, Chloe had blushed and given Nathaniel a quick peck on the cheek, which caused him to promptly blush as well. That was the first time she had ever seen tomato-boy become the tomato. No joke, he was bright red. The whole class cheered in support and Mlle Bustier just rolled her eyes and smiled. It wasn't her favourite ship… but it came pretty high.

The last exchange to happen was between Marinette and Adrien because it's convenient to the story. "Umm, I know your favourite kind of cookies are chocolate chip ones but you can ice those so I made a combination of sugar cookies and chocolate chip ones," he nervously explained. He handed her a lace drawstring bag and Marinette was shocked when she saw the contents. There were 3 of each cookie and the sugar ones were iced with a red heart on the top - identical to the ones she made with Chat. She looked up at him, her curiosity showing on her face. Adrien just grinned back and murmured, "So, do you like them, bugaboo?"

He spoke so quietly that no one but Marinette heard. The rest of the class was looking at them, wondering why they were whispering to each other when they supposedly had broken up. Mlle Bustier just watched on, excitement coursing through her veins as the two teens stared into each other's eyes. "Okay, lovebirds, break it up," Chloe snapped, popping the bubble. Both Marinette and Adrien blushed and scooted away from each other.

Alya, who was sitting next to Adrien, pulled him to her ear and whispered, "Hey, how is Adrienette going?" Adrien stared back in confusion and Alya rolled her eyes and muttered, "It's your names mashed together. Have you got a plan to convince Mari to date you again?"

Adrien opened his mouth and was about to tell her, excluding the Chat Noir part of course, when he remembered how Alya didn't tell him why Marinette had 'broken up' with him. Feeling very evil, he smirked and tapped his nose. Alya's eyebrows shot up in indignation and she was about to protest when Ms Bustier announced, "Ok, guys, well done on the cookie exchange, I'm sure all of you are very grateful towards whoever gave you cookies. You're free to leave school now! Happy Holidays!" The second she finished talking, there was a rush of legs trying to escape the classroom. Marinette and Alya stayed behind, though, to give Ms Bustier her very own bag of cookies. "Awww, thanks girls," she gushed appreciatively. As a grown woman, carbs rarely made it into her house but when they did, they did. "Good luck, Marinette!" she winked and began devouring the cookies she was given. Marinette looked confusedly at Alya. What did her teacher mean by 'good luck'?

Outside the classroom, Nino and Adrien were waiting for the girls. "Hey, dudettes." Nino said, slinging his arm around Alya's shoulder. "Are you down to come by for a movie night at mine?"

Adrien and Marinette both replied at the same time, "No, sorry, I have a thing." They looked at each other, Marinette with a shocked expression and Adrien with a knowing one.

"Okaayyy?" Alya warily. "You guys have fun doing your… thing." The couple walked off, glancing behind them a few times.

Adrien turned to Marinette and said, "Yeah, Mari. Enjoy your thing. I'm sure it will be the _bug-inning _of something new." He winked, brought Marinette's knuckles to his lips and strolled out of school, leaving the blushing bluenette staring dumbly after him.

When she had broken out of the spell, she ran back home, greeted her parents ultra-quickly, triple-jumped up the stairs to her room and flopped onto her chaise. A moment later, she shot up and exclaimed, " Tikki! Come here!" Tikki lazily flew out or her bag and grunted. "Ok!" Marinette pulled out her old whiteboard and rubbed out all the designs. "I have no idea why Adrien is acting so strangely so I'm going to document my findings like the true detective I am!" She began writing notes down, occasionally biting her lip, while Tikki watched on, disinterested. About 10 minutes later Marinette said, "Ok! So," she pointed her whiteboard pen to the board. "Here we, have the evidence. Number 1: he called me M'Lady and bugaboo, names only Chat Noir calls Ladybug. Number 2: he made a pun about bugs. Number 3: he somehow knows that chocolate chip cookies are my favourite and I have no memory of ever telling him that. Number 4: he kissed my hand. I think this evidence can only mean one thing." She paused to catch her breath and then rambled, " Alya told Adrien that I broke up with him because I also want to be with Chat so Adrien decided to try and act more like Chat so that I would want to be with him and him only which explains all the strange behaviour and to explain all the things he knows about me, again, he probably asked my parents when he asked them to make those heavenly truffles and that's why he-,"

Tikki cut her off with a hand to get lips and deadpanned, "Yes, because that definitely all makes sense. Come on, Marinette! What is the most basic answer?"

Marinette's eyes widened as realisation hit her like a truck. "Adrien is… Chat Noir." She then burst out laughing, big tears rolling down her face. " Oh, Tikki, That's probably the craziest thing that's ever come out of my mouth. That would mean I've been rejecting Adrien for Adrien for the past 5 years. It would also mean I broke up with Adrien because I want to be with Adrien! Can you think of anything more absurd?" Her laughing turned hysterical and she held her stomach. Tikki, completely losing faith in this child, rolled her eyes and flew off.

Eventually, it became dark outside and while they hadn't agreed on a time, patrol usually started at 7pm so Marinette left her house 5 minutes before. She silently landed on a building nearby and began to prepare herself for what was about to happen. _"Ok, Marinette. You can do this. Knowing Chat's identity will bring you closer together,"_ she determined to herself. _"But what if knowing I'm me makes him hate me? I mean, he already knows but I haven't seen him since he found out…"_ She day on the floor and dropped her head into her knees. _"Maybe showing our identities isn't the best idea…" _When she looked up, she caught sight of Chat Noir sitting on the Eiffel Tower, legs dangling over the street below. Steeling her nerves she muttered quietly, "It's now or never. Please let my luck finally work."

She swung over to land beside Chat and tentatively said, "Chat?"

He looked up and grinned, his white teeth shining in the dark night. Standing up from his sitting position, he bent low to press a kiss to Ladybug's hand and murmured, "Good evening, M'Lady." A fiery blush dusted her cheeks and she placed a cool hand to her head.

"Ummm, should we just…" she gestured with her hands, trying to convey what her mouth was failing to say.

Excitement danced in Chat's eyes and he nodded feverishly. "On three." Ladybug closed her eyes and took a deep breath, which turned into many short breaths. She stopped when she felt Chat take her clenched hands in his and pried her eyes open. "Hey," he reassured comfortingly. "There's no need to be stressed or freak out. This is just me and you, yeah?"

A small smile grew on her face and she whispered back, "Like it's always been." Chat grinned and nodded. "Ok," she said surely. Both superheroes closed their eyes and began counting down.

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three!"

They both said the words needed to remove their transformations and slowly opened their eyes. At the sight of Adrien, Marinette whispered disbelievingly, "Adrien…"

Adrien had a giant grin on his face and whispered back, "Princess." They stared at each other for a few moments before Marinette threw her arms around his neck, pulling him close. His arms wrapped around her back and he buried his face into her neck."I love you."

His voice was so quiet that Marinette barely heard it but when she did, she ripped herself away from his embrace. "You l-love me?" she stammered. She began pacing while Adrien stood behind her. "No, no no, this isn't how it works. You can't love me! I don't get that lucky," she murmured, mostly to herself. "You must love Ladybug. I'm just plain old Marinette, right?" She whirled around to stare frantically at him. There were a few tears clouding her vision but she could see him there.

The boy she had loved for 3 years.

The boy who she had trusted with her life for 3 years.

The boy who she had rejected because she was in love with his civilian self.

The boy who she had broken up with because she wanted both his civilian self and his alter ego.

The same boy that was currently professing his love for her.

"Mari," Adrien began while taking small steps closer to her. "The superhero mask doesn't give you a new identity. It just puts a mask on your face. You are Ladybug. Whether you're wearing your classic flower printed shirt or a spotted spandex costume."

Marinette looked at him, really looked at him, and felt her heart growing by the second. She pulled him into her once again and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Say it again," she murmured into his shoulder.

"I love you."

"Again."

"I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you."

"I love you too."

Adrien briefly pulled away to see if he had imagined the words but from the small shy smile and light blush on her face, he knew she had said them. _"She loves me…"_ He had always dreamed that someday, she would feel the same for him that he did for her but here she was, already there. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head and murmured, "I love you so much."

Marinette smiled and whispered, "I love you more."

"I love you most."

Plagg flew out and yelled, "Finally! Oh god, the last 3 years have been so unbearable."

"I know right!" Tikki added, exasperated. "I have honestly ever had such a clueless holder."

"I won the bet, Sugarcube!" Plagg reminded her gleefully.

Tikki's face fell and she muttered, "Shit." Suddenly, a grin appeared on her face. "Ok then Plagg. Here's your prize." She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and he blushed. The god of destruction, who Adrien could barely have a conversation with without including snark, blushed.

"U-uh, that w-wasn't g- oh whatever," he mumbled and Tikki giggled at his reaction.

They sat there for a while, not even saying anything, just content by the prospect of their relationship. They had so many ups and downs but it had all been worth it because now, they could be together. The time flew by and when Adrien checked his phone, it was nearly 8pm. "Come on, princess," Adrien said. "We need to get you home. Marinette groaned and didn't move. "Plagg, claws out." A green flash surrounded his body and Adrien stood up, picking Marinette up with him. "Hold on tight," he warned her. She wound her arms around his neck and he vaulted off the tower. A few minutes later, he landed on her balcony and lowered himself into her hatch, landing quietly on her bed.

"Uhh, if you come down, I can grab us some leftover snacks from the bakery," Marinette nervously offered. Chat nodded appreciatively and clambered off her bed behind her. He sat near the head of the chaise while she disappeared down her door. As he looked around, he reminisced on the night this had all started and was thankful for it all. _"I really am the luckiest black cat alive."_

Maeinette's head popped back through the door and she entered the room with cream puffs and glasses of milk. "I hope this is ok," she murmured.

"It's perfect."

She sat next to him and placed the plate of cream puffs between them, occasionally stealing looks at his face. _"How on earth did I manage to get so lucky?"_

They began to dig into the snacks and after a while, Chat Noir tentatively asked, "If you don't mind me asking, why did you 'break up' with me?"

Marinette sighed at the stupidity of it and explained, "Well, I wanted to be with you but I also wanted to be with Chat, which is also you. Alya told me to tell you but I guess the words never found their way out." Chat's eyes widened and he burst out laughing. Marinette soon joined him and they both laughed over how ridiculous the whole situation was.

After they had finished the snacks, Marinette began giggling at Chat's face.

"What is it?" he asked indignantly.

"Y-you've got some cream on your face," she murmured. She brought her thumb close to his face, swiped off the cream and licked it with the flick of her tongue. Chat felt his face grow hot at the action : there was something about her tongue gliding along her fingertip that made his insides twist into knots.

You got some too." He heard his voice but it didn't register in his mind that he actually spoke.

"What?" She looked back at him.

"Cream," he murmured and scooted closer to her. Her eyes grew wide at his approaching figure and she gasped as his rough tongue swept across the corner of her lips. He pulled away slightly so their heads were almost touching. "M-may i kiss you?" Not trusting her voice, Marinette slowly nodded. "Claws in," he whispered. His emerald eyes dropped down to her lips for a second and flicked back up to her eyes as his head slowly leaned in closer. He captured her lips with his, and it was everything he had imagined and more. Being here with her left him more content than he had ever been before. She gasped when his tongue slid against her closed lips, begging to taste her. Taking it as an invitation, he sought out her tongue with his and the kiss became deeper. Her hand fumbled around for the forgotten plate and she broke away to place it on the floor, ignoring his whimper of protest. When she looked at him, she was shocked to see the look of pure desire on his face, his green eyes gleaming hungrily in the dim light. She then softly pushed him so that he was resting on the back of the chaise and swung her leg over his lap so she was straddling him. She leant down again to press her lips more insistently against his and dragged her fingers down his torso. His hands rested on her lower back and he pulled her impossibly closer. One of her hands trailed up to the nape of his neck and she toyed with the short hairs there. Feeling for his scar, she broke away again to whisper breathlessly against his lips, "I meant to ask you, where did you get that scar froOM!" Her voice went higher as he latched onto her neck, pressing featherlight kisses and sucking softly. She let out moan and Adrien chuckled quietly on her neck.

"Mmm, a freak accident in the kitchen when I was about six years old. I tried to make cookies," he whispered in between kisses.

"Baking cookies on your own at such a young age wasn't a good idea," she teased, still breathless.

He pulled away completely and retorted, "Not everyone was born into a professional baking family."

She whined at the lack of contact and muttered, "Less talking, more kissing." She crashed her lips into his and pressed her chest against his.

Adrien chuckled into the kiss at her impatience and ran his fingers through her hair. She let out a soft moan into his mouth and he felt his resolve slipping away. Suddenly, her hips rolled against his and he felt a very… unfortunate reaction in his lower body. Pulling away from the kiss, he slowed her hips and muttered, "Uh, princess, we should s-stop." Marinette's eyes widened and she began to stammer apologies when Adrien cut her off with a finger to her lips. "It's not your fault. It's just that," he continued nervously. "Being here with you is making things particularly… _hard_." Suddenly Marinette felt something very hard and warm brush against her and her eyes widened in realisation.

"Ohhh. OHHHHH!" Her face turned bright red and she hastily slipped off his lap. "S-sorry, I forgot-"

"Down worry, princess," he reassured. "I just think if we kept going, I may not have been able to stop myself."

"Me neither," she confessed. "Ummm…" _"Are you really going to do this?_" Her cheeks reddened and she blurted out, "Do you wanna be my girlfriend?"

Adrien's eyes widened at her question. Honestly, he had planned to ask her himself but this worked just fine too. His look of shock turned into a smirk and he teased, "Well, I don't think I can be your girlfriend…"

Marinette pouted and murmured, "You know what I mean."

"Of course. If you'll be my boyfriend?" he teased back. Marinette blushed but nodded as well, going up on her tip-toes to kiss him. His arms wound around her back and he deepened the kiss, coaxing her lips open with a swipe of his tongue. As the kiss became more passionate, Marinette felt her lungs demanding for air and she broke away, both their pants sounding very loud in the silent room.

"Umm, as much as I want you to stay," she panted breathlessly. "You should probably get going. You need your beauty sleep after all."

Adrien sighed, put her down and smirked, "I'm always beautiful." Marinette giggled at her boyfriend's antics. "Plagg?" The two kwami flew out from the cupboard and bid each other goodbye. "Claws out." Green light swept up his body and Chat's vibrant green eyes stared down at Marinette, love and adoration shining through. She led him up to her balcony and felt his arms wrap around her waist and his face bury into the crook of her neck when they got there. "I'm gonna marry you someday," he whispered into her neck and Marintte felt her heart race at his admission. She knew that they were far too young to be thinking about marriage but she also knew deep down that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with this incredible man. His hand gently turned her head to face him and he pressed a sweet, chaste kiss to her lips.

"I love you, Adrien."

"I love you too, Marinette."

And she didn't, for one second, doubt his words.


	13. An Epilogue

It's the end of the road! I wanna say thank you to everyone who read my story and all of you who left comments. It really makes my day to see the sweet things you say! I hope you enjoy the **FINAL **final chapter of Late Night Chats!

* * *

_One Year Later _

Marinette and Adrien had done a pretty good job of keeping their civilian relationship and their superhero relationship separate. All of Paris had had a field day when Ladybug and Chat Noir had announced they were officially together and all of Adrien's followers had fawned over Marinette and her sense of style when he made their relationship official. A few times, Chat hadn't been so quiet when visiting his lady so Sabine had warned Marinette that allowing an unknown teenage boy (superhero or not) into her bedroom at night probably wouldn't sit well with her boyfriend. This had led to them revealing their identities to her parents, which they had both agreed was a good idea. Predictably, Tom had freaked out over the fact that his only child had been gallivanting over the rooftops of Paris and fighting supervillains for 3 years and he didn't know about it until now. Sabine seemed pretty chill about the whole thing, claiming she had a hunch that Marinette wouldn't allow just anyone into her bedroom. This reveal did make things a bit awkward when reporters would take photos of Ladybug and Chat Noir… patrolling on the Eiffel Tower. Annoyingly for Marinette, this only made Sabine fawn over their relationship more and ask her about grandchildren, which Marinette promptly shut down.

The two people, however, who were most invested in both relationships were Alya and Nino. Alya had always been a long time shipper of LadyNoir, maybe even longer than she had shipped Adrienette, and Nino was just happy to see his friend happy. So you can imagine how both felt when they were out walking by marinette's bakery and saw her sitting on her balcony table, swapping saliva with none other than Chat Noir. Nino had stood dumbstruck by the sight and Alya, being the good reporter she was, brought her phone out and took multiple photos. She had muttered vengefully, "Those two dont know what they're in for."

So that's how Marinette found herself here in Alya's house with Chat Noir sitting calmly beside her, Alya staring them both down murderously and Nino trying to calm his girlfriend down. She wasn't sure why Alya had asked Chat Noir to be there but she hoped it would be over soon - she and Chat had been in a very engaging… conversation. "So," Alya began calmly, completely contrasting her facial expression. "You're both probably wondering why I asked you to be here today."

"Yes, Blogger-Lady," Chat purred in response, a sinful smirk spread across his face. "I was preoccupied before you interrupted me and I would quite like to go back to it. I have yet to finish." Marinette flushed at the implications of his words and it wasn't lost on either Alya or Nino.

Alya continued, "I assume both of you are aware of the other's relationship?" They glanced at each other and nodded warily, wondering where this was going. "Then how do you explain this?" She stuck her phone in their faces accusatively and a very blurry photo of someone in black pressed up against someone in pink. She then enlarged the photo to show that the couple were standing on the balcony on top of the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

If Marinette was red before, she was a tomato now. She began to babble out explanations and excuses. Failing miserably, she looked to Chat for help and was furious to find him completely calm and collected. Slapping his arm, she hissed not so quietly, "I told you someone would see us but noooo! You wouldn't listen to me!"

"Aha!" Alya declared triumphantly. "So you admit! I can't believe you, Marinette!"

"Alya, wait-," she tried to protest.

"I don't wanna hear it!" Alya interrupted furiously. "You waited for so long to be with Adrien and then when you're finally a couple, you cheat on him with Chat Noir! You should know better than this! And you!" She turned to Chat Noir. "I know you've been waiting for Ladybug to accept your love and you finally have it too! Why on good God's earth would you waste it by cheating with a taken girl?" It looked as if steam was pouring out of her ears and her glasses had gone askew.

"Baby," Nino tried to calm her. "Don't be so hard on them."

"No!" Alya yelled. "They need to hear this!" She turned back to Marinette and Chat and was shocked to see them trying not to laugh. "Oh, so you think it's funny? How do you think Adrien and Ladybug would feel if they knew their significant others were off sucking face with other people?"

Ignoring her completely, Marinette asked Chat amusedly, "Should we tell her, Chaton?"

Alya repeated instantly, "Tell me what?"

Chat replied mischievously, "Mmm, I don't think she'll be able to take it, Buginette."

Alya's anger slowly became confusion and curiosity. "What won't I be able to take?"

"True, but we'll have to tell them someday."

"I guess you're right, as always, Princess."

Stomping her foot petulantly, Alya fumed, "What are you guys talking about? Tell me now or I'm going to wipe that dirty smirk off your face, Chat Noir!"

The black-clad superhero continued smirking knowingly at the reporter. "Do you really wanna know?" he lazily murmured.

"Yes!"

He looked questioningly at Marinette and she nodded surely. Taking each other's hands they both whispered the words needed for their transformation.

"Spots on."

"Claws in."

When the two bright flashes had disappeared, Alya pried her eyes open and was utterly dumbfounded at the sight of Adrien and Ladybug sitting in the place of Chat Noir and Marinette. "Wha, wha, huh?" she murmured dumbly and could only point at the couple.

"I think we've rendered her speechless, bugaboo," Adrien teased. Nino was staring on as well, his expression matching his girlfriend's.

Suddenly, Alya yelled, "Are you kidding me?" She began pacing back and forth, murmuring disbelievingly to herself. "Right under my nose this whole time… didn't have a clue."

"Wait, wait wait," Nino began. "So, it was you two that almost got it on that one time on the Eiffel tower?" Both Ladybug and Adrien's faces flushed at the memory and nodded shamefully. "Wow! I guess that's why Marinette always gets so angry whenever anyone downplays Chat Noir and Adrien suspiciously always knew exactly what happened in akuma attacks. And why you always disappear at the same time during akuma attacks," Nino reasoned, surprisingly calm. Alya was still pacing and Nino pulled her back onto the couch, rubbing soothing circles into her back.

"You guys are lucky you're cute or I might just rip your faces off," Alya murmured.

"Well," Adrien smirked again and pressed a kiss to the back of Ladybug's hand. "I guess we're the cat's meow."

_Two years later_

Marinette was well on her way to becoming the next big thing in the fashion industry. She was doing commissions almost every week and she had won many competitions since her first derby hat one. She had been accepted into 4 different designing schools. She ended up choosing the one that Adrien could also study business - he was planning on taking over Agreste fashion company.

The first day of school was unbelievably intense. Worst of all, Lila had decided to also join the school, lying her way into not paying any school fees. Marinette was sure Lila had only joined so she could torment her. The second she saw her, Lila had exclaimed with a fake smile on her face, "Marinette! You were in my class in Collège Françoise Dupont, right?" Marinette had plastered a smile on her face and nodded stiffly. "I'm sure things will be better now that we're older!"

Since that day, Lila had done nothing but spread lies about Marinette. It was lucky that most of the teachers could make logical conclusions instead of listening blindly to her lies. Even the student population refused to believe that Adrien's sweet girlfriend could do anything wrong. This didn't stop Lila from making her own clique of bitches that were salty about not getting Adrien for themselves.

One morning, Lila was sitting in her seat, crying dramatically when Marinette walked in. "Oh, I'm in so much pain!" she cried out.

"Oh, Lila, what happened?" one of her cronies asked fearfully.

"Marinette was tripping on the stairs and she managed to knock me over! I guess it was an accident and she was trying to help me when she gave me this little scratch here," Lila tearfully explained while pulling down the side of her shirt to show a big, dark purple bruise. Her friends gasped and turned on Marinette, hounding her.

"I can't believe you would do that, Marinette!"

"I know you and Lila had bad blood in Collège Françoise Dupont but there's no need to get physical!"

"Is that how you treat your boyfriend? Poor Adrien!"

Marinette had been trying unsuccessfully to defend herself when the door squeaked open and Adrien himself walked in. "Is there a problem here?" he asked charmingly, flashing the gaggle of girls a flirty grin and slinging his arm around Marinette's shoulders.

"Uh, Lila was just telling us how Marinette pushed her down the stairs and gave her a bruise," one of the girls nervously piped up.

"Is that so?" Adrien pondered thoughtfully. "I don't think that can be when I was with her up until about 10 minutes ago."

"Well," Lila stammered and her olive eyes locked onto Marinette's neck. "How do you explain that bruise on her neck, then? I'm sure she got it when I tried to grab on to something to stop myself from falling," she declared triumphantly.

Looking down at his girlfriend's neck Adrien deadpanned, "That was from me."

A collective gasp went around and one crony yelled, "You hurt your girlfriend?"

Adrien chuckled and smired, sliding his arms around Marinette's middle. A light blush dused her cheeks as he explained, "Oh no, no, you've got it all wrong." He pressed a couple of kisses to Marinette's shoulder and neck, his green eyes closed. Marinette turned even redder and Adrien broke away to continue, "See, we're normally very careful but I guess you slip up sometimes when you're deliriously in love." He straightened his back and put one protective hand on Marinette's back. His gaze hardened as he looked murderously at Lila. "Now, I know how much of a bitch you were in Collège Françoise Dupont, Rossi, but I thought maybe you'd have the decency to stop fucking with Marinette's life in university." Another gasp went around and Adrien noticed out of the corner of his eye that someone was filming. "Now, I'm very protective of the people I love and Marinette is one of them so I'm gonna tell you this one time and one time only. Back off my girlfriend. Is that clear?" he growled. Lila timidly nodded and glared resentfully at Marinette. Adrien's face immediately brightened and he said cheerfully, "Good! Now that that's cleared up," he pulled Marinette in for a heated kiss that left them both breathless and wanting more. "See you later, princess." Adrien smirked at Marinette, looking devilishly handsome, and strolled out of the room whistling a happy tune.

Marinette turned cautiously to face the class and smiled nervously, making her way to her seat. She tried to hide her blushing face and thought to herself, "_He really is a territorial cat._"

_Three Years Later_

Marinette's 21st birthday party was in full swing. Alya, Nino and Adrien had organised it and Marinette was ever grateful. In the morning, Adrien had treated her to breakfast in bed in their shared apartment. After that, they had spent some time together, doing the Devil's Tango for quite a while. They ended up being late to their lunch with Alya, Nino, Sabine and Tom. Their flushed faces were not lost on either parties but thankfully, Alya let it slide. AFter lunch, Adrien promised Marinette a special date and to meet him on the Eiffel Tower at 5 o'clock. Wondering why they would meet at their usual 'Ladybug and Chat Noir' spot, Marinette wore a pink and white polka-dotted summer dress. Leading her to the park with a blindfold over her eyes, Adrien had adamantly refused to tell her where they were going. When her sight was revealed, however, she was shocked to see her friends from Collège Françoise Dupont and fashion school, yelling 'Surprise!" Knowing she wouldn't like a club, they had opted for an outdoor party at one of the big parks. They also managed to get Andre's Ice Cream stand to wait for the duration of the party. It was exactly what she needed after such a stressful year - what with new designing commissions every month and finally taking Adrien to bury his mother. Marinette didn't know how she would ever repay her friends and boyfriend.

At around 9 o'clock, Nino, obviously the DJ, announced, "Ok, ladies and gentlemen! It's time for the last dance of the night for our favourite couple - Marinette and Adrien!" As the guest cleared away from the 'dance floor', a loud cheer resounded and Adrien grinned nervously at his girlfriend.

Extending his hand to her, he murmured, "Shall we, princess?" Marinette giggled and nodded, placing her hand in his and allowing him to lead her to the centre of the park. Nino pressed a button and the first few beats of 'Marry Me' by Jason Derulo started playing. Marinette laughed loudly and began to spin around with Adrien. There were people oohing and aahing at the couple and Alya was videoing their dance but Marinette only saw Adrien. They had been through so much together: defeating Hawk Moth, burying Emilie, moving in with each other. As they gazed into each other's eyes, Marinette thought contentedly, "_There's no one else I'd rather be with."_

_And if I lost everything__In my heart it means nothing__'Cause I have you, girl I have you__So get right down on bended knee__Nothing else would ever be__Better, better__The day when I say_

As the chorus played again, Adrien smiled lovingly and let go of Marinette's hand, slowly getting on one knee. Marinette gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, tears already building up in her eyes.

_I'll say will you marry me__I swear that I will mean it__I'll say will you marry me_

"Princess," Adrien began. "M'Lady. Marinette. You are the most incredible, powerful, beautiful woman I've ever met. I've loved you for longer than I know. You've been there for me since I met you and I've known I want to be in your life since you got stuck in my umbrella." The crowd laughed at Marinette's trademarked clumsiness and she giggled tearfully. "There's no one else I want to spend my life with. I love you so, so much and I want to grow old with you. I want to have 3 children and buy a hamster with you. I want to wake up every morning with you beside me." Marinette began crying joyfully at his words and Adrien brought out a small dark red box. When he opened it, Marinette gasped in delight. It was a princess cut rose quartz ring with a simple white gold band. "Marinette, will you marry me?"

She fell to her knees and grabbed Adrien's face, pulling him into a passionate kiss. Chuckling against her lips, Adrien pulled her closer with his free hand. When they broke apart, he teased, "So, is that a yes or…"

"Yes, you stupid cat!" she cried happily. Adrien beamed and slipped the ring onto her hand. She admired it and asked, "How much did you spend on this? You shower me with enough expensive gifts already."

Adrien smirked and replied, "The right amount for my princess." He kissed her cheek and pulled her up to her feet.

Guests started crowding around them, the girls fawning over Marinette's ring and the boys congratulating Adrien. Nino slapped his back and said, "Congrats, dude! You've set the bar pretty high for all us bachelors, eh?" Adrien just laughed in reply. Eventually, Marinette and Adrien found their way to each other. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" the guests began cheering.

"Well, you know I'm a people pleaser, princess," Adrien smirked and winked at her.

"Oh, shut up and kiss me, chaton."

_8 Years Later_

The Agreste Family were sitting under their Christmas tree in their penthouse. Emma, 3 years old, was running around all the presents joyfully. Hugo, 1 year old, was babbling happily at his sister's antics. Plagg and Tikki, clad in mini santa hats courtesy of Marinette, were cuddling by the fire, eating cookies and cheese. "Look, Maman, look!" she exclaimed gleefully, holding up a Ladybug-themed onesie. "Now I can be the Mirac-lous Ladybug!"

Much to Marinette's chagrin, Emma was as much of a Ladybug fan as her father was and she had tried extremely hard to get her daughter to be as much of a fan of Chat Noir. To Adrien's delight, Emma refused to wear any Chat Noir themed clothes and Marinette had eventually given up. At least Hugo was impartial.

Marinette giggled at her slight mispronunciation and teased back, "Aren't you too small to fight supervillains?"

"Nuh-uh, Maman! I am strong and powerful! Tikki, spots on!"

Fortunately, Emma didn't have Ladybug's earrings and therefore couldn't transform into the bug superhero. This didn't stop Marinette from gaping in horror. "Emma, honey, where did you learn those words?"

Pointing behind her to the two kwamis, Emma replied, "Plagg said it's a very invenient for when I want to be Ladybug."

"Don't you mean 'convenient'?" Adrien chimed.

"Plagg!" Marinette scolded. "You know how I feel about telling Emma more than she should know!"

"Calm down, Ladybug. The kid's smart, she would've figured it out somehow anyway," Plagg replied nonchalantly.

"Maman?" Emma questioned.

"Yes, honey?"

"Why don't I have any more presents? I've been a very good girl this year, right?"

Adrien walked over to his daughter and picked her up easily, settling her into his lap. "Well, minibug, what else do you want? I'm sure Santa might be able to make a few more trips," he offered. Marinette rolled her eyes. She knew how much Emma had Adrien wrapped around her pinky finger and that if he had his way, Adrien would buy anything and everything that the 3-year-old asked for.

"Ummm," she rubbed her chin thoughtfully, her face lighting up when an idea hit her. "I want a dog!"

Adrien's face immediately fell and Plagg declared, "No, no dogs. If you get a dog, I will go back to the bakery."

"Ok, then. A cat!" Emma piped.

Adrien was about to agree when Marinette cut in, "No. Maybe in a few years when Hugo is older but I don't want to have to deal with your brother eating cat food every other day."

"But Maman!" Emma protested. Even Adrien looked at his wife despondently.

"No. That is final."

Sighing dramatically, Emma pouted, "Fine."

"Why do you want another pet so bad, honey? You have Naruto and Wayzz," Marinette asked curiously.

"Yeah but hamsters get so boring!" Emma whined. "I know! I want a baby sister."

Marinette flushed and Adrien's eyes slid mischievously over to his blushing wife. "W-well, Emma, isn't Hugo enough? H-he was only born last year."

"I. Want. A. Sister!" Emma yelled, punctuating each word with a stomp of her foot. "If you don't get pregnant again, Maman, you have to give me a cat or a dog. And **that's** final." SHe crossed her arms petulantly and stomped to her bedroom.

Marinette sighed and murmured, "I might as well put Hugo to bed as well."

Once both children were in bed, Marinette made her way to she and Adrien's bedroom and was surprised to find him already there, 2 glasses of red wine in hand. "Oh, Adrien. Thank you," she whispered gratefully, sliding into bed next to him and taking a glass from his hands.

They spent half an hour joking and reminiscing about the past year together. When the bottle of wine was empty, Adrien plucked the glass out of Marinette's hand and placed it on the bedside table. "What're you-," Marinette began but was cut off by Adrien straddling her legs and leaning down to begin pressing kisses onto her neck.

"We really should give our daughter what she wants, Princess," he teased, sucking on her pulse point and causing her to let out a soft moan. "How about it? Should we try for one more kitten?" He moved so he was facing her and smirked dastardly.

Marinette sighed as if she was taking on a huge burden and replied, "I guess if my kitty wants it."

Adrien's emerald eyes shone with love and adoration. His gaze drifted down to her lips and he slowly leaned in. She nodded contentedly and as their lips met, they both knew that no matter what happened, they would get through it, together.


End file.
